Anantapur: In a major breakthrough, Kadapa police on Saturday nabbed a 19-member interstate gang of cannabis smugglers and seized 28 kg of ganja, a Ford car and four two wheelers from them.
Kadapa SP K.S.N. Anburajan told media that on a tip off, special police teams had been deployed at four different places in YSR district, which led to arrest of 19 smugglers.
Those arrested include three inter-state and three inter-district and 13 local peddlers. The SP identified interstate smugglers as S. Kiran Kumar and J. Sandeep, both natives of Payakaraopeta in Anakapalli district and Korra Matsya Raju, native of Chinthapalli in ASR district.
Inter-district smugglers have been identified as Pasala Vinod Kumar of Mydukur in YSR district, Natva Chandrasekhar of Bethamcherla in Kurnool district, Poojari Sai of Kamalapuram town. 13 others arrested are those who sell cannabis in small packets to local customers.
Anburajan said they are booking five of the accused under Preventive Detention Act. They are also identifying persons addicted to the contraband and shifting them to rehabilitation centres for treatment.
