Vijayawada: The ganja mafia, which has a huge nexus of smugglers, lower-rung government officials, politicians, and leaders of caste-based organisations, has begun to work towards the rescue of members who have been caught by the enforcement wing of the prohibition and excise department. The mafia network in the capital region and in the districts of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam has alerted its financers and asked them to protect their hideouts. The prohibition and excise personnel have already identified some emerging political leaders as members of the mafia.
A senior official of the department said that when a raid is conducted and arrests made, information reaches the network’s lawyers within minutes. Ganja smugglers and loaders are confident that they will be protected in the event of cases being filed against them under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. They are protected by a highly-organised hidden mafia network that offers them legal and financial assistance as and when required.
Somaraju (name changed), a ganja loader from Tirumalayapalem, remote village near Rajahmundry, revealed to officials, “We are very strong; many big people are backing us. There are lawyers, politicians and government officials to protect us.” Somaraju has been involved in ganja smuggling for the past 20 years. According to him, government officials and some politicians in the Agency area know about the workings of the ganja trade in East Godavari, its transport process, and the transit points. Loaders and smugglers have the advantage of a dense forest into which officials do not enter.
It is difficult for officials to intercept vehicles without information from rival gangs within the ganja mafia. The mafia uses roads that are not on the radar of the roads and buildings and forest departments, for the transport of ganja. They also use these roads to carry out small assignments that are known to the excise, police, roads and buildings and forest departments.
