The seizure of 4.5 kg of ganja and arrest of three Bengaluru-based youth near Vijayapuram of Nindra mandal bordering with Tamil Nadu recently night led to the unravelling of the newly grounded clandestine transit route of ganja smugglers towards Tamil Nadu.
The police said that the ganja smuggling is a very tedious business involving long travel from Agency areas of north Andhra Pradesh to destinations in Tamil Nadu, passing through rural areas and prudently avoiding national highways and border check-posts.
Deputy SP (Puttur) D. Murali Dhar and Circle Inspector (Nagari rural) M. Rajasekhar, who led the operation, told The Hindu that the demand for ganja had escalated manifold owing to COVID-19 lockdown in view of the risky transportation and border check-posts.
The modus operandi of the smugglers is to procure stocks from the Agency areas at cheaper rate and dispose them of in Tamil Nadu at a higher price.
Diversion
Due to surveillance on the Gudur-Chennai national highway through Tada, the smugglers allegedly take diversion towards Naidupeta and enter Chittoor district through Srikalahasti. After reaching Tirupati, they take circuitous routes through villages, entering the Nagari rural section at Vijayapuram-Kanakamma Satram (TN) and crossing into Tamil Nadu. The geography of this particular border area is that one side of the highway is under Chittoor district, and the other side belongs to Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Rajasekhar said though the ganja trade was considerably negligible in Rayalaseema districts, the clandestine operation would go on with beggars in the garb of mendicants. Following stopping of passenger trains, the mendicants are now stranded at railway stations and bus stations. They would also play a vital role in carrying the consignments across the States.
New ‘kick’
Meanwhile, it has been observed that following steep hike in liquor prices, some youth and people of poor and downtrodden sections are getting diverted to ganja to get a “kick” at a cheaper price. “Generally, ganja consumers rarely consume liquor and those who consume liquor hardly touch ganja. Due to the current lockdown and police surveillance on inter-State liquor smuggling, new batches of consumers of ganja might emerge thanks to its cheaper rate compared to the liquor price,” a police officer said.
Mr. Murali Dhar said that considering the modus operandi of the ganja smugglers, foolproof surveillance would be in place all over the sub-division from Satyavedu to SR Puram.