Ganja smugglers from Tamil Nadu have been encouraging locals in Vizag Agency to cultivate the Sheelavathi variety of cannabis in vast valley tracts by investing and providing them with modern equipment and latest cultivation methods.
Sources from the police and prohibition and excise departments have confirmed the spurt in the illegal drug trade at the borders of Vizag Agency and Odisha thanks to the powerful interstate mafia, particularly from Tamil Nadu. Apart from smuggling red sanders in Chittoor, people from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu play a vital role in smuggling ganja (marijuana) to Chennai from parts of Vizag.
The illegal trade is pegged at Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 crore per annum in Vizag with the plant being cultivated in over 20,000 acre in G.K. Veedhi, G. Madugula, Chintapalle, Peadabayalu, and bordering areas of Odisha.
Officials say 80,000 kg of ganja, valued at Rs 100 crore, have been seized by excise and police departments in the last four years. Around 1,750 smugglers, 20 per cent of whom were from Tamil Nadu, were arrested under various sections of the NDPS Act.
This, they say, is only the tip of the iceberg as most of the smuggling goes undetected.
Deputy commissioner of prohibition and excise, Vizag, Mr M. Satyanarayana, said ganja smugglers are arrested and contraband seized every second day in Vizag district and in one out of four cases, they are from Tamil Nadu. He added that most of the contraband also usually heads toward Tamil Nadu.