Koraput: Jayapur Town police have busted an inter-state brown sugar trafficking racket by seizing 403.2 grams of the contraband, valued at around Rs 40 lakh in the retail market, and arresting six persons during a late-night operation on Saturday.Police acting on prior information intercepted a four-wheeler during night patrol and recovered contraband, including more than 3,700 small packets weighing less than one gram each and fetching around Rs 800 to Rs 1,000 apiece. They seized 11 packets containing 10 grams each, Rs 20,000 in cash, eight mobile phones and two weapons — a bhujali and a knife.SDPO Jeypore Archita Mittal said the preliminary investigation revealed that the contraband was being sourced from Khurda and Nayagarh and transported to Jayapur for distribution in the region. “Our investigation so far suggests that the brown sugar was being sourced from Khurda and Nayagarh and transported to this region. It was then being distributed in small quantities,” she said.One of the arrested persons, Rama Chhatriya alias Ramu (35) of Jeypore, is allegedly a drug supplier. Police said he had been arrested around two months ago in another brown sugar case involving a smaller quantity. Mittal said Ramu was apprehended again while allegedly procuring the contraband. The commercial quantity attracts stringent provisions of the NDPS Act. The other arrested persons are Prakash Kumar Chhula Singh (52), Shaikh Aali (26), Satya Priya Pattanaik (49) from Khurda, Alok Chetty (29) of Koraput and Sarojini Barada alias Ranu (36) of Nayagarh.Police said several of the accused persons have criminal antecedents, including cases under the NDPS Act, murder, dacoity and theft. Preliminary interrogation revealed a coordinated racket and provided leads about others in the supply chain. Efforts are underway to trace the wider network, Mittal said.