Cops seize over 250 kg cannabis worth Rs 50 lakh in Visakhapatnam

A gang of four drug smugglers was nabbed by The City Task Force (CTF) and the airport police on Thursday in Visakhapatnam. The officials seized over 250 kilograms of cannabis from their possession at the stock point located in Madhavadhara VUDA Colony in Visakhapatnam. The gang planned to store the stock here temporarily, before distributing it to other states. The police recovered more than 100 packets of ganja from the site. The estimated value of the cannabis seized in Visakhapatnam was around Rs 50 lakh rupees.

When the police arrived at the location on receiving a tip-off, they found four men unloading stock from a vehicle to take it inside the stock point. However, all four ran away on seeing the police. Three of the men were caught, while one escaped.

Of the four accused, two of them were natives of Narsipatnam, and the other two were from Tamil Nadu. The accused have been identified as P. Devi (21), Solomon Franchis (39), Rajesh Annakodi (35) and P. Sasikumar (30). Another accused in connection with the smuggling case was identified as P. Thrimurthulu, P. Devi’s husband. He had absconded the scene before police nabbed the other four. Official police statements revealed that the gang was supplying weed to college students by concealing the substance in vehicles. The accused will be produced before the VII Additional Metropolitan Magistrate in Visakhapatnam.

Earlier this year in September, the Visakhapatnam police burned down a massive stock of ganja that was seized in 455 smuggling cases in the last 10 years from all the 13 police stations in the district. The total worth of the burned stock was estimated to be around Rs. 13 crores. Officials said it was the single-largest destruction of ganja in the district till then.