The seizure of a huge consignment of ganja worth ₹ 10.50 lakh from a car at Tirumalayapalem on the Khammam-Warangal highway on Tuesday revealed the spurt in ganja smuggling by inter-State ganja peddling gangs in the pandemic times.
The task force personnel in coordination with the local police seized about 70 kg of ganja from a car bound for Thorrur in Mahabubabad district during a vehicle checking drive in the mandal headquarters town of Tirumalayapalem on Tuesday afternoon. The seized contraband originated from the Agency areas of Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district, sources said.
A suspected ganja peddler from Julurupadu mandal in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district was detained after the contraband was seized from his car. The task force police had earlier seized 458.15 kg of ganja worth about ₹ 45.81 lakh in four separate cases in the district in the last couple of months. Frequent surprise vehicle checks by the police mainly in the Left wing extremism affected border areas of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district resulted in seizure of a huge quantity of more than 6,000 kg of ganja from inter-State ganja peddlers in different places mainly in Bhadrachalam division so far this year, sources added.
Attempts by the ganja peddlers to smuggle the contraband by concealing them in consignment of toys, chocolates and biscuits were foiled by the police with timely detection of the contraband during vehicle checking drives in the erstwhile undivided Khammam district earlier this year.
