VIJAYAWADA: Taking decisive action against ganja peddling gangs operating within the city and district, NTR district Commissioner of Police (CP) Kanthi Rana Tata has initiated a new and intensified multi-level strategy to dismantle these criminal networks and eradicate the ganja menace.
The primary objective of this special operation is to neutralise all the ganja smuggling and peddling in the district, with a particular focus on those targeting college students. As part of the operation, Kothapet police arrested a notorious ganja peddler, Biyyapu Lokesh and seized nearly 1.6 kg of ganja from his possession on Sunday night.
Lokesh, identified as a notorious criminal targeting college students, was caught red-handed transporting ganja packets worth approximately Rs 2 lakh in the market.
Over the past year, the district police have registered more than 200 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 and have sent over 500 students to various rehabilitation centres in the city to help them overcome addiction.
According to police observations, the illegal business is organised into three layers: transporters or couriers, receivers, and suppliers.
“Unemployed youth and students are being exploited at all stages of this illegal trade,” explained a senior police official leading the operation.
“To avoid suspicion, youth are sent to agency areas to procure the stocks, while the kingpins operate in the shadows, enticing youngsters with promises of lucrative incentives.”
The unemployed youth and students are vulnerable to becoming victims of narcotic substances.
Additionally, the NTR district police have collaborated with rehabilitation centres across the district to ensure that all consumers receive proper treatment and counselling, along with their parents, to help them overcome addiction.
Stringent actions, such as externment from the city and monitoring of suspected individuals, have also been initiated against the accused.