Hyderabad: There has been a spurt in marijuana (Ganja) smuggling in the city of late. In the past one month, police has seized Rs 3.5 crore worth marijuana from various locations on the outskirts and within the city.
Smugglers who were arrested in Hayatnagar on Sunday revealed that they were transporting marijuana to Maharashtra. Marijuana or ganja is grown in Araku, Tuni, Piler and few other parts in Andhra Pradesh.
From there it is usually packed into airtight polythene bags of 25 kg each and transported to different places across India. In most cases, the smugglers lure transporters with high amounts and monitor their movement over phone.
In a major catch at Hayatnagar by the Cyberabad East police on July 5, the handler had hired a truck driver to transport 2,016 kg of ganja packed in 83 bags in a van.
The driver had been offered Rs 80,000 to transport the weed. Cops said that an agent was in the vehicle and the handlers were guiding him over phone.
The suppliers target youth in the age group of 17 to 25 and people from lower income groups. “The receivers here keep changing their locations frequently and they keep their customers updated. They usually conceal the drug with pineapple root for transport,” said DCP B. Limba Reddy of the Commissioner’s Task Force, Hyderabad.
“We will get more information about them once we take them into custody. Though they say that they were transporting it to Maharashtra, or whether they were transporting it to any other destination, it will be known during custodial questioning,” said DCP LB Nagar Tafseer Iqbal about Sunday’s arrests.
