4.8 kg ganja seized in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur, 14 booked

Guntur (Andhra Pradesh) [India], January 5 (ANI): Guntur district police have seized 4.8 kg of ganja and booked multiple accused as part of an ongoing crackdown against drug abuse, officials said.
Guntur Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal said here on Sunday that the contraband was seized from four ganja peddlers and ten consumers.
"4.8 kg of ganja has been seized from four peddlers and ten consumers. They will be arrested and remanded today. Guntur district police have been conducting a crackdown on people who consume or sell ganja. In the last three months, approximately 200 people have been arrested in 40 ganja-related cases. We are conducting awareness programs in all the schools and colleges to educate people about the harmful consequences of taking drugs", SP Vakul Jindal said to ANI.
Police said the crackdown will continue as part of efforts to curb the spread of narcotics and protect public health.
In December, Pune Police claimed to have busted a major drug racket after seizing hydroponic cannabis being cultivated inside a rented flat in the Pimpri Chinchwad city of the district and recovering narcotic substances worth around Rs 3.45 crore. Senior police officials said the investigation indicates the involvement of an international drug trafficking network.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Somay Munde, who was leading the case, "The racket came to light following the arrest of an accused in a drug sale case, after which police carried out coordinated operations in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Mumbai and Goa.
During the raids, various narcotic substances, including mephedrone, hydroponic cannabis (Ozikush), charas and LSD, were seized."He further informed, "Five accused have been arrested in the case. They have been identified as Tushar Chetan Verma (21), Sumit Santosh Dedwal (25), Akshay Sukhlal Maher (25), Malay Rajesh Deliwala (28) and Swaraj Anant Bhosale (28). Police have also frozen Rs 7.80 lakh from the bank accounts of the arrested accused. All the accused have been remanded to police custody." Police said Verma was initially apprehended from the Khadki area based on specific inputs about narcotics sales.
During interrogation, it was revealed that his associates Dedwal and Maher had rented a flat in the Pimpri area, where hydroponic marijuana was being cultivated. Acting on this information, a police team raided the flat and seized hydroponic cannabis along with equipment used for its cultivation. (ANI)