KAKINADA: Ganja smugglers continue to use the Kakinada route for illegal transportation and marketing of ganja by posing as passengers, with most consignments originating from Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and parts of Odisha, police said.
Officials noted that traffickers supply the contraband to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Hyderabad-Telangana, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu. Police said hundreds of tonnes of ganja have been moved through vehicles, often undetected unless discrepancies are flagged.
Authorities added that the district has witnessed several incidents linked to ganja trading, including attacks and murders. On February 5, Jaggampeta police seized 162 kg of ganja worth Rs 80 lakh from an auto travelling from Odisha to Sri Sathya Sai district. The vehicle carried 80 packets of ganja, and four accused posing as passengers were arrested.
Earlier, on September 29, 2025, police seized 383 kg of ganja worth `19.19 lakh at Mukkolu, on the outskirts of Kirlampudi mandal. Smugglers had disguised their car as a government-hired vehicle with a sticker reading ‘On Govt Duty’. Four accused from Rajasthan escaped dramatically at the Jonnada toll plaza in Bheemunipatnam police limits. In November 2025, Kakinada police, along with the District Drug Disposal Committee, destroyed 8,274.45 kilograms of dry ganja, 555 grams of liquid ganja, and 15 MDMA tablets at K. Uppada village in Bheemili mandal of Visakhapatnam district. These substances had been seized in 107 different cases.
Kakinada SP Bindu Madhav said monitoring has blocked most ganja transportation routes.
“Through highway vigilance, police have seized huge quantities of ganja in many cases. Police have shared a contact number with the public and urged people to report illegal trading or transportation to the nearest police station or district police office. The police will keep the identity of informers confidential,” he said.