Excise Department Seizes Contraband Worth ₹76.61 Lakh on Day 10 of Special Drive

Bhubaneswar: The State Excise Department registered 212 cases and seized contraband worth ₹76.61 lakh on the tenth day of its Special Enforcement Drive, which began on December 20, officials said on Tuesday.

A total of 63 people were arrested during the day, including one person booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. During the enforcement operations, officials seized 8,524 bulk litres of illicitly distilled liquor and 377 bulk litres of duty-paid liquor.

Other recoveries included 78,500 bulk litres of fermented wash, 10,000 kg of gur wash, 274 kg of mahua flowers, and 70 grams of brown sugar.

In a major breakthrough, the Koraput Excise team conducted a raid on an illegal unit at Bondaguda in the Kotpad area, uncovering a full-fledged counterfeit foreign liquor manufacturing operation. The team seized 1,545.16 litres of spurious liquor along with fake packaging materials, including duplicate Excise Adhesive Labels (EALs), labels, corks, spirits, chemicals, machinery, and other equipment used in the operation.

Officials said the seizures underscore the department’s intensified focus on dismantling illicit liquor production networks and organised supply chains across the State. The Special Enforcement Drive will continue in the coming days to curb illegal manufacturing and trafficking of liquor and narcotics, they added.