Special team to be formed to root out ganja
Representational image
Visakhapatnam: After cracking down on red sanders smuggling, the state government has shifted focus to checking the marijuana trade in Visakhapatnam.
Anticipating that the booming illegal marijuana trade will get murkier and could grow into a threat like the red sanders smuggling in Chittoor with the involvement of inter-state gangs, the AP government is in the process of forming a task force to check smuggling of the contraband and also to root out its cultivation.
Enforcement officials admitted that the illegal trade in the narcotic was pushing the crime graphs and smuggling gangs were now found to be wielding weapons.
According to the police, workers from Tamil Nadu are playing a vital role in smuggling ganja to Chennai.
Ganja smugglers from Tamil Nadu have been encouraging locals in the Vizag Agency area to cultivate the Sheelavathi variety in vast tracts of the valleys by investing money and providing modern equipment and latest techniques.
Kingpins from Odisha, Bihar, Delhi and parts of Maharashtra are also pushing the trade with the support of a few local political leaders in Vizag Agency.
The home minister in his recent visit to Vizag said many youngsters were entering the ganja trade and the business also has become a socio-economic problem.
“We want to check the green drug smuggling and will form a task force in consultation with the excise, police and forest department to conduct raids to control the smuggling and cultivation,” the minister said.
DGP J.V. Ramudu said that Vizag Agency has turned a safe haven for ganja smugglers despite the arrest of some inter-state smugglers.
The police aims to make Vizag free of ganja plantations and talks were underway to form a special task force to deal with the illegal trade, he said.
Sources in the police and excise departments said Maoists were encouraging the marijuana trade in Vizag Agency in order to spread their base and power. However, Maoists ultras maintain that the ganja trade was a major source of income for police, excise and revenue officials so inter-state gangs have set up temporary bases in Vizag with the support of a few local leaders.
Vizag cannabis best in the part of the world
Vizag’s marijuana is said to be among the best in the national market next to Idukki Valley in Kerala. Not only ganja smugglers but also enforcement officials say that there is huge demand for Vizag’s cannabis.
Smugglers are finding new ways to transport the green drug to various parts of the country and the cannabis is finding markets in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and the Paharganj area in New Delhi. The value of the trade is said to have crossed Rs 10,000 crore per year.
Excise and police officials said ganja grows wild and is mostly cultivated on the slopes of the Eastern Ghats in 11 mandals in the Vizag Agency area. Sheelavathih is one of the popular and best ganja varieties in Vizag Agency and is said to give a bigger kick compared to other varieties.
Notwithstanding raids by police and excise officials at regular intervals, ganja is still grown and the prices have trebled recently. Increasing demand for marijuana among urban youth in various parts of the country is prompting smugglers to push up prices.
Discreetly sold in 50-gram pouches, marijuana that used to cost Rs 200 earlier is now sold at almost Rs 400 in Vizag. In Chennai and other parts of TN and AP, the 50-gram pouch could go for as much as Rs 1,000. Flourishing ganja trade in Vizag Agency and the rising demand for the weed in urban areas has become a huge source of income for traders in the region.
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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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