VISAKHAPATNAM: Anakapalle district police arrested five persons and seized 43 litres of hashish oil worth Rs 5.5 crore at M Koduru Junction in V Madugula mandal on Monday. The contraband was being transported from Odisha to Palakkad in Kerala through the Paderu ghat road.
The arrested were identified as K Rajiv Kumar, 32, and K Vineesh, 28, of Palakkad in Kerala, Kaila Sharath, 26, and Khila Kamulu, 19, of Malkangiri in Odisha & Desi Palasi, 28, of Paduva mandal in Odisha.
Arun Kumar had allegedly arranged the transportation in Odisha and provided money to the other accused before fleeing to Kerala. The police are searching for him. The police seized an autorickshaw and a motorcycle used for transporting it.
Acting on a tip-off, V Madugula Sub-Inspector G Narayana Rao and his team intercepted the vehicles during checks at M Koduru Junction.
A search led to the seizure of 43 packets of hashish oil, each containing approximately one litre. The police said the gang had procured the drug from the Maliguda and Dabuguda areas under Chitrakonda in Odisha’s Malkangiri district. The accused planned to transport it to Palakkad through Anakapalle.
The police said Rajiv Kumar was transporter and had served a prison sentence in an NDPS case registered at Golugonda police station in 2021. Vineesh was booked in a ganja case at Thomas Mount police station in Tamil Nadu in 2023. Sharath was allegedly involved in procuring the hashish oil.
Anakapalle SP Tuhin Sinha said the police would continue action against drug trafficking and warned that those involved would face action.
As of September 27, the police had registered 72 cases in ganja trafficking, arrested 199 and seized 80 vehicles. They had seized 2,856.573 kg of ganja and 26.06 kg of hashish oil.
The police identified 22 persons in NDPS cases and obtained orders for the seizure of assets worth Rs 1,11,41,100. They identified 42 persons under the PIT NDPS Act and implemented 13 orders.
