Hyderabad: With 10x profits due to the high demand for ganja in the twin cities several unemployed youths have started procuring the banned substance from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha for sale in Telangana. They smuggle the contraband through interior routes, off the highway, in Rachakonda commissionerate and Nalgonda district, reliable sources said.
Apart from this, some smugglers use luxury cars, ambulances, TSRTC and private buses — which are less thoroughly checked or allowed through without a search — to avoid being detected by the police, sources said.
“We deliver bulk quantities of compressed ganja to Shaheen Begum and Majid Khan in Mumbai. We keep changing vehicles and routes,” a transporter said. Indicating that the smugglers were aware of the safe routes, he added, “Many passing through Rachakonda and Nalgonda get caught.”
Majid Khan purchases quintals of dry ganja for Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 a kg.
Meanwhile, peddlers from the city, who source the drug through bulk suppliers, disclosed that ganja smugglers took full advantage of the Lok Sabha elections when the police were with bandobast duties. This led to a relatively easier transportation and dry ganja worth crores of rupees were smuggled and delivered.
Truck driver Habibullah disclosed that bulk ganja was transported through trucks with national permit. “I was a government bus driver earlier. Now I making a killing by way of huge commissions,” he disclosed.
Police have a good number of informers, who them them off about the vehicle colour, registration number and the time when the smugglers start the journey, he said.
Rachakonda police are reportedly facing issues in identifying the smugglers and peddlers as the commissionerate is spread over 5,000 square km and has four major highways running through it. Smugglers carrying ganga to Hyderabad, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and other states from AP and Odisha pass through the commissionerate, posing a challenge to the police.
However, the police are applying a multi-pronged strategy to tackle the drug smuggling.
“We are constantly monitoring the movements of previous offenders at the unit level directly under the zonal heads,” Rachakonda police commissioner Tarun Joshi, said. The Rachakonda commissionerate has more transit routes compared to other commissionerates, Joshi, said.
“Our teams have identified unique methods to nab ganja peddlers. Our enforcement teams are given advanced training in investigation, detection and prosecution to increase the rate of conviction,” Joshi told Deccan Chronicle.
Apart from this, the police are conducting multiple awareness programmes in institutions, establishments and the general public, especially the youth on ill-effects of ganja. “Our trained officers are explaining to them the physical and mental effects in consuming ganja,” Joshi explained.
The commissionerate is also coordinating with TSNAB and developing a strong network of informants not only in Telangana but also in Maharashtra, AP, Odisha and other states.
