Berhampur: A key accused from the inter-state drug trafficking syndicate was arrested on Thursday from Visakhapatnam. The accused, Rupesh Kumar Pradhan, 26, was absconding for over a year.With the arrest of Pradhan, nine members of the syndicate have been arrested so far, said SP (Kandhamal) Ramendra Prasad. The arrested members included Dillip Kumar Gouda (29) of Badagouda Sahi of Kabisurya Nagar in Ganjam district, D N Dinesh (28) of Sunapanga, Sunil Mallick (28) of Patamaha, Deepak Kumar Diga (32) Gulimarasahi, Simanchal Biswal (42) of Sunapanga, Mahendra Mallick (29) of Kandhamal district, Ishwar Singh (35) of Salaria in Rajasthan, Dug district, Chunbad R Ojha (50) of Surat in Gujarat, police said.Pradhan of Khajurinal in Kandhamal district allegedly served as the manager for the business dealings of the ganja mafia, Dillip Gouda. Bank accounts and vehicles were taken in the name of Pradhan and operated by Gouda to transport the contraband illegally, he said.He said they have seized and frozen assets worth Rs 4 crore from Gouda, his family members and operators. The seized assets included multiple bank accounts used for drug money routing amounting to around Rs 16 lakh, land and real estate purchased from narcotics proceeds amounting to around Rs 2 crore, a fleet of commercial and luxury vehicles used for transport and escort of ganja, jewellery worth Rs 30 lakh so far, said police.The gang was busted following the arrest of its main leader, Gouda, in June last year with 91 kg ganja along with a car near Baliguda. Intelligence and ground operations revealed a highly organised truck transportation network, originating from Kandhamal, Odisha, and spanning across Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Gujarat.The syndicate utilised modified heavy vehicles for transport of contraband across state borders. Investigation revealed the arrested persons were habitual offenders. Several accused persons were wanted in multiple NDPS cases and organised crimes registered across the states like Gujarat and Chhattisgarh.
