Bhubaneswar: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday virtually inaugurates the newly-constructed office building of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) zonal unit in Odisha capital, while attending a conference on ‘Drugs Smuggling and National Security’ in New Delhi.
He also supervised through video conferencing the destruction of 1.40 lakh kg drugs worth Rs 2,381 crore, the bulk of it from Madhya Pradesh.
The NCB’s Odisha sub-zonal office, established in 2012, was upgraded to a full-fledged zonal office by the Ministry of Home Affairs around two months back. It was earlier functioning under Kolkata zonal office.
Following the official inauguration of the new upgraded office, the manpower of the unit’s operational and non-operational wings is expected to be strengthened in the coming days. While the sub-zonal office had around 14 officers and personnel, including an assistant director, one SP, four intelligence officers, sepoys and drivers, it is now being led by a director and is likely to have around 50 to 55 officers/personnel and staff, reports said.
More manpower will help the NCB’s Odisha unit to intensify the drives against the sale of drugs in the state. Since 2020, the unit has seized 8,983 kg ganja and 28.2 kg opium and arrested 53 traffickers.
