TIRUPATI: In a major blow to the regional drug-trafficking networks, the Sullurpet Police busted an international ganja smuggling racket, resulting in the arrest of eight persons on the Nellore-Chennai highway near the town on Monday.
Police reported the seizure of 120 packets of ganja, weighing approximately 240kg.
The arrested were C. Ananda Velu (48), Bala Kishan (60), Ch. Tirumala (38), K. Raghunathan (41), J. Varadarajan (37), all from Tamil Nadu, and D. Love Raju (28), K. Venkataramana (25) and B. Ravi (41), natives of Anakapalli district.
Tirupati SP Parameswara Reddy said the operation was executed on the basis of a tip-off the police received.
“A suspicious Bolero truck coming from Nellore was intercepted. The police examined the vehicle and seized 240kg of cannabis. The mastermind was Ananda Velu, who would procure ganja from supplier Appala Naidu in Anakapalli. The contraband would then be transported to Sri Lanka through the coastal areas of Tamil Nadu. The gang employs small boats to export the cannabis to the recipient, Khadar Bhai, a Sri Lankan national,” the SP said.
“Ananda Velu, with a history of crime, formed his own gang to conduct these illegal operations. Instead of receiving monetary payment, he preferred to take gold for the ganja he trafficked. Appala Naidu, the primary supplier of ganja in Anakapalli, collaborated with fellow gang members to procure the illicit substance from the Odisha border. He maintains a stockpile and caters to the demands of interstate and international smugglers,” the SP said.
“Khadar Bhai specialized in smuggling ganja from India to his home country. He had previously been involved in a counterfeit currency case. CID has issued red corner notices and lookout notices in pursuit of his arrest. The authorities remain confident that he will be apprehended soon,” SP Reddy said.
PD Act cases will be registered against all individuals implicated in the international ganja smuggling racket, he added.
