Bhubaneswar: The Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha Crime Branch on Friday busted a major interstate Ganja trafficking racket operating from Bhubaneswar by arresting four persons, including the alleged kingpin.
Acting on intelligence inputs, a team of STF carried out a raid at a rented house in Pandav Nagar under the jurisdiction of Badagada police station of the city. The site was allegedly being used as a warehouse for storing and dispatching commercial quantities of ganja.
During the raid, STF team seized 50.5 kg of ganja packed in 25 packets along with four mobile phones, suspected to have been used in coordinating the illegal operation.
Police said the contraband was being transported from the warehouse to destinations in Kerala, Karnataka and other states as part of an organised interstate trafficking network.
The alleged kingpin has been identified as Mohammed Asif of Kerala. Another accused, Subhransu Sekhar Panda alias Bablu, allegedly managed the warehouse and supervised the transportation of ganja to different states.
The other two accused, Chandan Digal and Rashmi Ranjan Digal of Kandhamal district, are suspected to have supplied the contraband to the syndicate at the local level.
All four accused have been booked under the provisions of the NDPS Act and produced before a court.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate and trace its financial network, including possible interstate links and the flow of funds connected to the illegal narcotics trade.
