Odisha STF raids brown sugar smuggler’s home in West Bengal

BHUBANESWAR: The state special task force (STF) has conducted its first anti-drug trafficking operation in West Bengal and got vital clues about some narcotics drug smugglers, who have been supplying brown sugar to Odisha.
The STF took the help of West Bengal police and conducted a joint raid at the residence of one Sheikh Ismail at Chamakpur in Lalgola police area on Monday evening. Though Ismail managed to escape before the raid, the police seized around 400 grams of brown sugar worth about Rs 40 lakh from his house.
“Though we could not arrest Ismail, the raid was a good beginning for us. Lalgola area is the hub of brown sugar smugglers. Our personnel have been camping in the Lalgola area for the last three days. They will stay for some more days and gain first hand information about the modus operandi of the smugglers,” a senior STF officer said.
The STF got clues about Ismail from some peddlers, who were arrested from Balasore district, neighbouring West Bengal. Almost all the peddlers of the state smuggle brown sugar from West Bengal to Odisha.
Unlike ganja (cannabis), which is cultivated in Odisha, brown sugar is procured by dealers from West Bengal. Police said opium poppy plants, which are used to produce brown sugar, are mostly cultivated in West Bengal. Cultivation of opium poppy plants is rare in Odisha. The smugglers use acetic anhydride and calcium hydroxide chemicals in poppy buds to produce brown sugar.
The STF seized over 43 kg of brown sugar worth about Rs 43 crore from different parts of the state, especially in Balasore, from 2020 till now. The state police have been conducting financial investigation against smugglers and attaching their assets. Properties worth over Rs 10 crore, belonging to some drug dealers, have been attached in the state in the last one year.
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