Cops seize over 500 kg ganja in 2 separate raids, 6 held
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In the first case, the Anakapalle district police, with the support of EAGLE personnel, seized 370 kgs of dry cannabis and arrested four members of a seven-member gang near Rachapalle of Makavarapalem mandal. The gang was transporting the contraband in two cars from Odisha to Tamil Nadu via Andhra Pradesh.
Though the seized ganja was procured for about Rs 20 lakh in Odisha, it is estimated to be worth over Rs 1 crore in some metro cities.
Based on a tip-off, the Narsipatnam rural police team led by inspector L Revathamma and Makavarapalem sub-inspector P Damodhar Naidu carried out vehicle checks in the area. Upon spotting the police teams, six individuals in two cars and two on a scooter attempted to flee, but the police managed to apprehend four of them.
The investigation revealed that all eight involved are natives of parts of the Anakapalle district.
A manhunt is on to nab the remaining accused.
In a separate incident, Vizianagaram police arrested two inter-state drug peddlers and seized around 145 kg of dry cannabis while they were transporting the weed from Odisha to Kerala via L Kota in Andhra Pradesh. The arrested have been identified as Dambu Siragam, alias Krishna (21), a native of Koraput district in Odisha, and Mohammed Shefeek (36), a native of Khasaragod district in Kerala.
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Vizianagaram district police chief Vakul Jindal said they have formed a team to arrest one more accused, identified as Abubakar Siddhiq, alias Harish, also from Kasaragod. Based on a tip-off, L Kota police carried out a raid near Golzam junction and intercepted an SUV heading towards Vizag city. Police found 145 kg of dry cannabis in 70 packets wrapped with brown plastic tape.
During interrogation, Shefeek confessed that he had purchased the weed from Siragam and was transporting it to Siddhiq in Kerala. He also revealed that Siddhiq had visited Padua in Odisha and directed him to transport the consignment. Jindal stated that the police have intensified vehicle checks at strategic points to curb the transport of cannabis from Odisha to other parts of the country via Vizianagaram.
Officials said inter-state cannabis peddlers are sourcing the contraband from villages along the Andhra-Odisha border, especially from Koraput, Malkangiri, Ganjam, Gajapati, Rayagada, and Kandhamal districts of Odisha.
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