102 kg of ganja seized from Visakhapatnam smugglers

Hyderabad: A whopping 102 kg of ganja was nabbed from two peddlers who were smuggling the contraband from Araku in their car on Tuesday by officials of the Excise and Prohibition Department. 

According to police officials, initially, V. Srinivas, 26, was arrested from the Malakpet area in possession of two kg of ganja. 

Upon grilling him, officials found about his associate coming to the city with 100 kg of the contraband, following which he was nabbed too.

“The tip was given that B. Ashok Teja, also 26, was coming from Narsipatnam to sell ganja in Hyderabad. Officials rushed to Abdullapurmet and found a car parked on the highway which leads to Batasingaram and seized 100 kg of dry ganja, 50 packets each containing 2 kg, from the compartment and from under the rear seat of the vehicle,” said deputy commissioner of excise, C. Vivekananda Reddy.

During the course of investigation, it was revealed that Srinivas had started supplying drugs to some of the sellers at Dhoolpet, Katedan and Narayankhed in small quantities of 10 kg since about one year. 

“He  gradually increased the quantities of the banned substance and started importing 100 kg at a time. The receivers in Hyderabad are being identified based on the mobile numbers on their phones and information given by Srinivas. We will soon be cracking down on them too,” added the official.

The duo are residents of Tamaram village of Makavaram Palem in Visakhapatnam. They collect ganja from Paderu, Chintapally and Narsipatnam at Rs 1,500 per kg and sell it at Rs 4,000 to the sellers in Hyderabad and Rs 10,000 per kg, ('100 for 10 grams of ganja) directly to needy customers. Further investigation about their network and connections are on.