Bhubaneswar: The officials of the Excise department seized 378 grams of brown sugar from a car in Pipli area of Odisha’s Puri district last night.

The Excise sleuths have arrested two persons—Imam Ahemad Raza (27) of Rajgangpur and Muhammad Talha (29) of Rourkela in Sundargarh district—for their involvement in the illegal trade of brown sugar.

The duo was allegedly on their way to Puri town from Rourkela to deliver the brown sugar to some drugs peddlers.

On a tip-off, the officials of the Excise department from Puri district intercepted their car near Pipli bypass yesterday night and found the brown sugar from their possession.

The market value of the seized brown sugar has been estimated to be around Rs 40 lakh.

The arrested duo was produced in a court and later sent to the jail as their bail pleas were rejected, said the Excise department in a statement.