The special enforcement bureau (SEB) of Andhra Pradesh police on Saturday set fire to over 200 tonnes of processed cannabis (ganja) in Koduru village of Visakhapatnam district, police said on Saturday. It was a part of Operation Parivarthan to rid the state of illicit drugs.
Police officials estimate the street value of the destroyed drug to be around ₹500 crore. The exercise was carried out at an event in the presence of top police officials, led by director general of police D Gautam Sawang.
A spokesperson from the chief minister’s office said the special operation was undertaken to eliminate the cultivation and supply of cannabis as part of the government’s efforts to crackdown on drugs in the state.
Operation Parivartan was launched on October 31, Sawang told reporters. Between November and February 2022, SEB authorities had destroyed cannabis crops in 7,552 acres, Sawang said. Only 3,000 acres of cannabis crops were destroyed in 2016-17, he said.
“The state government has given a mandate to the SEB to curb cannabis. We have devised the operation with a two-pronged strategy. While the primary goal was to find and destroy marijuana crops, the operation also aimed to educate indigenous communities participating in the production,” Sawang said.
The operation also aims to rehabilitate persons involved in the cannabis trade by giving them alternative livelihood opportunities.
{{/usCountry}}The operation also aims to rehabilitate persons involved in the cannabis trade by giving them alternative livelihood opportunities.
{{/usCountry}}Over 3 lakh kg of cannabis had been seized from the state since last year, Sawang said. Most of this cultivation takes place along the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha (AOB) border, with a majority of the cultivation in 29 districts of Odisha and two districts of Andhra Pradesh, he said.
“By geo-mapping the exit routes of the terrain, we have found out that most of the exit routes are in Andhra Pradesh. The AOB is a very vast area influenced by Maoists, due to which AP police and government couldn’t access the area,” Sawang said.
“But, since the past one year, there has been a focused drive by the SEB and the police department. Due to vigilance and monitoring of the exit routes, we have also learned the modus operandi of cannabis smugglers,” he said.