Bhubaneswar: In a first in Odisha, the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police has recovered around 202gram of cocaine from two interstate drug peddlers in Jayadev Vihar area here, an official said Wednesday, adding the duo has been taken into custody.
The accused were identified as Ravi and Sunny Kumar, both residents of Rajasthan, the official said, adding that Sunny was residing at Salia Sahi under Nayapalli police limits.
About the crackdown, the official said they were tipped off about the possession of contraband by the duo. “During the search, 202gram of cocaine and other incriminating materials were recovered from their possession. As the duo couldn’t produce any document in favour of possession of the contraband, they have been arrested and produced in court that sent them to judicial custody,” added the official.
A case (9/2022) has been registered with the STF police under Sections 21(c)/29 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act 1985.
According to STF, Ravi was into travel business in Delhi. He speaks fluent English and has contact with many foreigners. This helped him sell cocaine in the national capital.
“In order to spread his cocaine business to posh localities of the capital city, Ravi contacted Sunny, who is also from Rajasthan and was residing in Bhubaneswar,” said the official.
This is the first case of seizure of cocaine in Odisha. “Unlike cannabis (ganja/ marijuana and weeds) and heroin/brown sugar (prepared from opium), cocaine is not produced in India. Cocaine is produced from the coca plant which is native to South America. It is mainly produced in Latin American countries like Colombia, Peru and Bolivia and consumed mostly in the USA and Europe,” the official pointed out.
According to the STF, since 2020, the task force has seized more than 50kg of brown sugar/heroin, 202gram cocaine and more than 91quintal of ganja/marijuana and arrested more than 137 drug dealers/peddlers.