Over 10,000-kg cannabis destroyed in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: The Andhra Pradesh government is considering all measures to wage a war to curb cannabis in the state, said Director General of Police (DGP) Harish Kumar Gupta.

Leading a massive destruction of 10,147-kg of cannabis and 19.3-lt of hashish oil plus a kg of opium seized in various cases across Visakhapatnam at Kapuluppada here on Sunday, the DGP mentioned that the ganja peddlers will be considered as ‘terrorists’ and stringent action will be taken against those supplying and using the contraband. “The assets of those involved in ganja cases are also being seized. Along with the state government’s action plan, people’s cooperation play a key role in eradicating ganja in Andhra Pradesh,” he emphasised.

Further, the DGP informed that the production of cannabis has however come down drastically. Following court orders, cannabis worth Rs.5.21 crore seized in 533 NDPS Act cases were destroyed. Of the arrested persons, 712 were from Visakhapatnam, 332 from other districts of AP and 391 from other states.

The cannabis destruction exercise was carried out in the presence of district collector MN Harendhira Prasad, EAGLE (Elite Anti-Narcotics Group for Law Enforcement) Director Ake Ravi Krishna, City Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi, among others.

The City Police Commissioner mentioned that check-post surveillance has been intensified and with the incorporation of technology and drone survey, surveillance has been tightened.