Acting on tip off, NCB seizes two truckloads of ganja near Vijayawada
Officials of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Wednesday seized two large vehicles that were transporting ganja to Hyderabad from Visakhapatnam Agency areas, after they conducted surprise checks in Ibrahimpatnam.
According to reports, one vehicle was a lorry, while the other was a DCM truck. Both were stopped and seized on National Highway 65.
The authorities arrested three accused and said that the plants seized were worth close to Rs 2 crore.
The Ibrahimpatnam police told the local media that NCB officials had acted on a tip-off.
It was also learnt that the NCB had tried to intercept the vehicles at Rajamahendravaram but were unsuccessful. Following this, the accused were caught near Vijayawada.
This came just a day after officials from Andhra Pradesh's Prohibition and Excise Department destroyed 7,814 kg of ganja that was seized from 62 raids conducted in East and West Godavari districts.
The officials burnt a large amount of the dry crop, in the presence of state's Excise Minister KS Jawahar, Prohibition and Excise Commissioner Dr P Lakshmi Narasimhan, East Godavari Deputy Commissioner B Aruna Rao and West Godavari Deputy Commissioner Y B Bhaskara Rao among others.
Speaking to reporters, the Minister said that the government was determined to make the state 'ganja free' and warned people against cultivating the crop.
He also said that close to 1.7 crore ganja plants had already been destroyed in the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts.
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, criminalises possession, trade, transport and consumption of cannabis, among other narcotic and psychotropic substances.
Ganja is grown on a large scale in the Agency area of Visakhapatnam, and officials suspect that a lot of Maoists are involved in cultivation of the plant, and use the money gained from its sale, for their activities.
Since taking office in 2014, Andhra Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has ordered police officials to take strict action against people indulging in ganja cultivation.