Bhubaneswar: The police today seized over 23,000 bottles of banned codeine-based cough syrup and arrested two interstate drug traffickers in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district.

The arrested have been identified as Mohammad Ahsan Ahmed (38) Madanpur area in Aurangabad district of Bihar and Rijwan Ansari (28) of Barabani in Bardhaman district of West Bengal.

The market value of the seized cough syrup is stated to be around Rs 1 crore.

As per reports, the cough syrup bottles were being transported in a truck and the accused duo was escorting the vehicle in a car.

On a tip-off, a team of the Jharsuguda police intercepted the truck at Tumbekela and conducted a search in the presence of an Executive Magistrate.  

The cops recovered altogether 197 sealed cartons containing 23,640 banned cough syrup bottles from the truck. They later seized the cough syrup, measured 2,364 litres, under the NDPS Act and arrested the duo.

The police have also seized Rs 2.44 lakh in cash from the two accused.  

During investigation, the cops came to know that the accused duo was transporting the banned cough syrup to Odisha from Chaibasa area of Jharkhand.

“A case was registered under Sections 21(c)/29 of the NDPS Act, 1985 and the accused were arrested and produced before a local court. Further investigation into the matter is underway,” said a police officer.