500kg ganja worth Rs 50 lakh seized, 2 held

Visakhapatnam: Prohibition and excise department officials intercepted a vehicle near Peddapeta under Narsipatnam excise police station limits and seized over 500kg of dry ganja on Monday. The driver and helper of the goods carrier in which the contraband was being transported were also arrested.

As per reports, the smugglers procured the hemp from Vizag agency and loaded it in a goods carrier.

The weed was covered with plywood material load to evade enforcement officials. Based on specific information, excise officials led by sub-inspector Rajya Lakshmi of Narsipatnam intercepted the vehicle near Peddapeta and seized the contraband by removing the plywood load.

The contraband, which was found neatly packed in over 100 packets, would be worth Rs 50 lakh in the open market. The vehicle was heading towards East Godavari from where the smugglers planned to transport the weed to other parts of the state. “We have arrested two persons so far and suspect some more people from Narsipatnam and East Godavari district might be involved in this,” officials said.