A major ganja trading center in Suraj Bihar area in the town, was unearthed during a a joint raid by the sleuths of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and local police last night.
Around 1700-kg ganja, worth over Rs 80-lakh in market value was seized from the gowdan and one Ranjan Padhy alias Dibakara was arrested in this connection, said Dilip Robi Das, superintendent, NCB, Sub Zonal Unit, Bhubaneswar.
Another person, however, managed to escape, when the police and NCB personnel raided the house, added SP (Berhampur) Sarthak Sarangi.
The contraband was stocked in a rented house. The owner of the house was residing in Puri.
The center was operating for last several years to supply to different states including Bihar, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and different towns in the state, said Das. The narcotic substance was packed in small pockets weight around 10-kg and supply to different places, he said.
"We have information about the thriving illegal ganja trading center in Berhampur for last some months. We suspected some more persons might be involved in the illegal business," NCB superintendent said.
According to the sources, the ganja peddlers from the marijuana-growing states like Kandhamal, Gajapati and Rayagada supply the contraband to the centre. This narcotic substance might be supplied to other places, including out of states in small packets from here through the couriers, sources said.
