During the seventh meeting of the State Level Narco Coordination Centre (NCORD), which was conducted here on Tuesday, authorities stated that since 2024, Odisha has arrested 4,534 people, registered 3,238 cases, and recovered more than 513 metric tons of ganja. The conference, which was presided over by Chief Secretary Anu Garg at Lok Seva Bhawan, examined strategies to reduce drug trafficking, create a society free of drugs and addictions, raise public awareness, and improve collaboration between government and law enforcement.
The meeting was attended by senior officials from a number of departments, including Hemant Sharma, Additional Chief Secretary of the Home and Information & Public Relations Department; Y.B. Khurania, Director General of Police; Binaytosh Mishra, Director General of CID-Crime Branch; and the Deputy Director General of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Kolkata. DG, CID-Crime Branch, Mishra gave a summary of the state’s anti-drug initiatives, emphasizing the creation of an action plan targeted at breaking up illegal drug supply lines. He reviewed the choices made at the 6th State Level NCORD meeting on March 20 and cited the Union Home Minister’s appeal for a drug-free India at the 9th Apex NCORD conference in New Delhi earlier this year.
In addition to seizing more than 513 metric tons of ganja, officials have demolished more than 69,470 acres of illicit cannabis production around the state since 2024, according to a presentation by the Special Task Force (STF) and CID-Crime Branch. During that time, more than two lakh bottles of codeine-mixed cough syrup and more than 33 kg of brown sugar were also confiscated by law enforcement. A special anti-drug campaign along the Andhra-Odisha border resulted in the arrest of seven members of an interstate drug trafficking network and the confiscation of ganja and hashish oil worth at around ₹230 crore, officials told the conference. Additionally, authorities have stepped up their financial investigations into assets connected to drug trafficking.