Consumption of Cannabis, known as weed or ganja, has been on the rise in the State. People of all age groups, more so, students have been allegedly found to be addicted to the weed, but law enforcing agencies are a bit surprised at the ease in which the substance is being shipped and delivered at multiple points.
Ganja has been banned under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. The NDPS Act defines Cannabis or weed or ganja the flowering or fruiting top, that excludes seeds and leaves which do not form part of the top, any mixture or drink made out of charas or ganja or charas, crude or purified, is a separated resin obtained from the cannabis plant and includes concentrated preparation or resin called liquid or hashish oil.
Andhra Pradesh is now waging an all-out war on the banned substance. Director-General of Police Gautam Sawang has launched Operation Parivartan to weed out drugs across the State. Measures have been taken to strike at the roots of the trade, including burning of ganja crops in the Agency areas. Special police teams have been formed and a massive crackdown on cultivation of weed has been ordered in the Paderu Agency area in Visakhapatnam district.
Even as the police are grappling with the peddling of dry ganja, the rampant smuggling of liquid ganja also known as hash oil has caught the police by surprise.
Though there is no major difference in the making of dry ganja and liquid ganja, it is the packing which makes the peddling of liquid ganja easier. Packed in bottles and concealed in small quantities, the peddling of liquid ganja has emerged as a major challenge. Liquid ganja is made by boiling a mixture of dry ganja powder and vegetable glycerine. The concoction is then allowed to dry and packed into small bottles.
“The Guntur Urban Police busted a massive racket where 50 kg of liquid ganja stock worth ₹10 lakh has been seized at Nagarampalem. The liquid ganja has been packed in 100 bottles of 5 ml each. The police have intensified the drive against peddling of ganja,'' said SP, Guntur Urban, K. Arif Hafeez.
The main accused in the case, Siddha Bathula Vinay Kumar alias Pandu, is a student who completed engineering and later started to trade in ganja. While he was in judicial remand, he reportedly came across friends who put him to Isac Vaman Shaik and Md. Ishaan from Kerala. Later the duo sent Abu Backar alias Akbar to Guntur. Vinay allegedly struck a deal with Ishaan and Issac for handing over ganja in large quantities and headed to Paderu, where he purchased ganja worth ₹5 lakh. They packed the ganja in bottles and were getting ready to hand it over to Ishaan and Issac when the police, acting on a tip off, raided the house and arrested all of them.
