Jeypore: In one of the biggest anti-narcotics operations, police seized more than 1,800 litres of hashish oil worth Rs 200 crore and ganja valued at Rs 5 crore in Odisha’s Koraput district.
According to a police release, the large consignment of hashish oil, extracted from the cannabis plant, was seized in the dense forested region near Jalaput reservoir, along the Andhra–Odisha border.
Acting on credible intelligence, a special team led by the Koraput SP Rohit Verma conducted a coordinated operation and busted the illegal temporary manufacturing unit hidden in the remote forest area under Padua police limits.
Along with a massive stockpile of hashish oil, materials and equipment use
d in its production were seized. A search operation is underway to apprehend the suspects who fled the spot during the raid. “Masterminds of the manufacturing unit have been identified. They will be apprehended soon. Inter-state links have been prima facie established in manufacturing the hashish oil,” the release said.
Amid the large-scale crackdown on ganja cultivation and transportation in the state, criminals are increasingly turning to processing ganja into hashish oil, a more compact, high-value product that is easier to conceal and transport. The market price of 1 litre of hashish oil is roughly 25 times higher than that of 1 kg of raw ganja, offering traffickers significantly higher profits, it further stated.
In a separate operation, a team from Nandapur police station intercepted two Mahindra pickup vehicles and seized 1,143 kg of ganja. Four persons were arrested for alleged smuggling of the contraband. While two among them hail from Semiliguda area in the district, the other two are from Haryana. Further probe is underway to determine inter-state linkages, the release added.