Andhra Pradesh Police Smash 2 Lakh Kg Cannabis Worth Rs 500 Cr

The Andhra Pradesh police set torched almost two lakh kg of cannabis in Visakhapatnam on Saturday, claiming it was the country’s greatest burning of a seized narcotic drug in one go.

The worth of the cannabis, which quickly went to ashes, is estimated to be around Rs 500 crore in the local market. In the recent year, 2,32,510 kg of marijuana was seized.

State DGP Gautam Sawang lighted one of the several ganja mounds heaped at Koduru hamlet in Visakhapatnam district’s Anakapalli mandal.

The AOB – Andhra Odisha Border – agency region of Visakhapatnam, which borders Odisha, is notorious for Maoist activities as well as large-scale marijuana growing.

Though ganja has been grown in these forest areas for some time, the opposition TDP claims that under the YSRCP’s administration, the planted acreage has increased tremendously. Smuggled AOB ganja enters Telangana, Maharashtra, and a number of other states across the country.

The threat has grown to the point where the K Chandrasekhar Rao government has had to create a special police branch to combat ganja trafficking and use in Telangana.

Following an interstate coordination meeting in Vizag of police officials from the southern states, Odisha, and NCB and DRI sleuths, the Andhra Police started an unique initiative – Operation Parivartana – in November.

The police might eliminate 7,552 acres of ganja production using drones, satellite images, and other technology, as well as a physical raid.

If not, the output would have been worth Rs 9,251 crore at Rs 10,000 per kilogramme, according to police officials.

In Andhra Pradesh, 120 inter-state, inter-district, static, dynamic, and mobile checkpoints have been established. From November 1 to February 8, officials said, 577 cases were reported, 314 vehicles were seized, 1,500 arrests were made (572 from other states), and 47987 kgs of ganja were seized.

During Operation Parivartana, the police held information programmes and rallies in tribal and forest areas to discourage villagers from growing ganja.