Vizag Court sentences ganja smugglers to 14 years of imprisonment

For smuggling ganja, two smugglers have been sentenced to 14-years imprisonment by the Metropolitan Sessions Court Judge in Vizag.

The court judge, S Nagarjuna, convicted R Satya Rao and A Srinu who were arrested while transporting 475 kgs of ganja from Paderu in 2013. Along with the imprisonment, a fine of Rs 1 Lakh has been imposed on each of them.

This is the second severe conviction imposed by the Vizag Court as S Nookaraju, another smuggler, was convicted with the same jail term and fine, a few days back.

In case of non-payment of the fine, the court asked the convicts to undergo an extra year of imprisonment.

In Vizag, Rs 50,000 – 1 lakh of ganja is sold every single day, stated the President of Jana Jagrana Samrithi and former ABVP leader from AU during a meeting. He further stated that only a small amount of the drug worth Rs 2.2 crore annually; that has been procured from an agency is sold in the city for local consumption.

The ganja that is being exported from Vizag stands at Rs 25 – 75 crore per annum. Much of the ganja sold in the city are in areas like Kobbari Thota, Assam Gardens, Poorna Market, East-Point colony, Gnanapuram, and Gajuwaka. Vasu states that Kobbari Thota seems to be a major distribution center.

10% of students are easily addicted to ganja as it is sold at a cheaper price than alcohol. What they don’t seem to realise is an addiction to the narcotic and craving the high eventually gets them to peddle the drug and get involved in several other crimes.