VISAKHAPATNAM: Rolugunta police seized some 300 kg of Sheelavathi variety of dry ganja worth about Rs 6 lakh and arrested 10 persons at Ratnampeta village of Rolugunta mandal in the district in the wee hours of Sunday. Police said, a group of eight persons of Ratnampeta village and two from Hyderabad were caught red-handed during the patrolling while they were loading the narcotic substance in a four-wheeler to transport it to Hyderabad by road.
According to the police, the residents of Ratnampeta purchased the ganja from the tribal areas, including GK Veedhi, Chintapalle and G Madugula, among others, in the district to transport it to Hyderabad. Drug runners in Hyderabad were supporting the residents in the illegal business. The police sources said that ganja cultivation is rampant in the north coastal districts especially in the areas that are dominated by Maoists and Visakhapatnam has emerged as a major transit point for the drug runners. Thousands of kilograms of ganja was seized by excise and police departments in last few years.