Bhubaneswar, May 17: Huge profits and easier ways to avoid detection have turned many ganja peddlers in the twin cities to switch to selling brown sugar. Despite frequent crackdowns by the excise department and the police, the sale of brown sugar is climbing in slums, official sources said.

A senior excise official said while 1kg of ganja was procured for Rs 3,000, the peddlers sell it to individual customers at twice the price. But peddlers dealing in brown sugar charge Rs 20,000 for 10 grams. The margin of profit is three times the procurement price.

"Ganja is smuggled in bulk that makes the consignment difficult to conceal. However, in case of brown sugar, it is procured in lesser amounts and becomes difficult for officials to detect such consignments," inspector of excise intelligence and enforcement bureau (Cuttack) Amarendra Kumar Jena told The Telegraph.

Another official said that in most cases, these peddlers mixed powdered milk, sugar, talcum powder and incense stick ashes with the contraband to fetch more profit. He said: "In November last year, we had arrested two brown sugar peddlers from the Haldipadia slum in Laxmisagar who admitted that they adulterated the contraband to increase the volume. A peddler sells 0.1 gram of adulterated contraband for Rs 250."

Excise officials said brown sugar peddlers had devised innovative ways to keep the contraband away from eyes of the informers.

"In a recent case, we found that the peddler had stored brown sugar in plastic cups that are used to store ice cream. Besides, there were instances of storing it in worn out shoes," said the official.

The police said the high margin of profit often lures peddlers to restart the business even after serving jail terms for the same offence. "We have noticed that when a peddler gets arrested, his family members take over the business," said a police officer.

Another excise official said that several peddlers together maintained a customer base, especially of students, and effectively used mobile phones to deliver the contraband.

The selling of the contraband is being done so discreetly that it has become increasingly difficult for the police to get clues about the business. According to official records, the police have only seized only nine grams of brown sugar in Bhubaneswar in the past two years.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said the police would start a drive to crack down on the peddlers selling brown sugar.

"Local residents should inform the police if they find out about the contraband being sold in their locality. We will also send our men in plain clothes to the suspected selling points to nab sellers," said Bhoi.