In a huge catch, the Narsipatnam Town police on Monday intercepted a Chhattisgarh-registered lorry at Degree College Junction and recovered about 2,500 kg ganja, worth over ₹2.5 crore, being allegedly transported by three persons , from Malkangiri district in Odisha.
This is said to be the biggest catch in Visakhapatnam district in the last couple of years.
According to Narsipatnam (town) Circle Inspector, Lakshman Rao, the three smugglers who hail from Odisha, concealed the ganja packets in between load of rice bran, in the heavy vehicle, said Mr. Lakshman Rao said.
Police said the packets, each weighing about 3 kg, were kept in 92 bags.
Investigation revealed that the ganja was procured from interior areas of Malkangiri. The smugglers were instructed to take the vehicle till Tuni of East Godavari district, after which other smugglers would take over the vehicle. Though police are unsure about the kingpins, they suspect that the destination might be northern States.
Spurt in cases
In February, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) seized about 1,813 kg ganja which was being transported in an ambulance from Vizag Agency to Chhattisgarh. In February 2017, about 1,972 kg ganja was seized by the rural police at Narsipatnam. In 2015, the Anakapalle rural police caught 2,000 kg ganja in the Kasimkota area.
After the completion of the first phase of the election, additional security forces were withdrawn from the Visakhapatnam Agency, and since then there has been an increase in smuggling with cases being registered almost every week. Two days ago, the Task Force teams of the Excise Department has seized over 768 kg ganja at two places.
Published - May 13, 2019 11:35 pm IST
