A Special Task Force (STF) team of Excise and Prohibition Department in Anakapalle arrested two persons and seized about 725 kg of marijuana being transported in a van this Tuesday.
According to the officials, the marijuana is suspected to have been procured at around ₹3.5 mln, but its market value would be somewhere between ₹7 and 10 mln in the northern States. Acting on a tip-off, the STF team led by Excise SI S.S. Chandramouli intercepted a van near the Government Degree College at Narsipatnam and recovered the contraband.
“In a bid to evade checking, the accused were transporting marijuana concealed under a load of bananas. 29 bags of marijuana -weighing 25 kg each- were recovered from the vehicle. The smugglers allegedly procured the contraband from the interior parts of Visakhapatnam agency and transporting it to Uttar Pradesh,” an official said.
The Excise and Prohibition officials have intensified checks on the smuggling in the district in the wake of the harvesting season of the contraband crop.
