VISAKHAPATNAM: The district has emerged as a safe haven for ganja smugglers for the past few years and tonnes of ganja has been seized by the excise and police departments in the last few years. But that is only a tip of the iceberg, claim officials, pointing out that most of the ganja cultivation takes place in tribal areas where Maoists dictate terms and thus goes undetected.According to official sources, about 12,000 kg of dry ganja was seized in 2010 and 7,000 kg from January to August this year. Around 100 smugglers, including women, were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act, 1985 this year which speaks volumes about the flourishing ganja cultivation in the district. Ganja smugglers from neighbouring states, particularly Tamil Nadu, have been encouraging tribals to cultivate cannabis on vast tracts of fertile valleys by investing huge money.The smugglers help the locals by providing modern equipment and latest techniques. For transport they use the railway route. They prefer unreserved general coaches of express trains to smuggle the contraband from Anakapalle and Visakhapatnam railway stations. Trains originating from Howrah and Visakhapatnam are preferred most. Railway police and excise officials seized at least two tonnes of cannabis and hemp from express trains last year.Good quality ganja (Sheelavati), which the drug lords buy at Rs. 2,000 a kg in tribal areas, is sold at Rs. 8,000 in places like Chennai, deputy commissioner of prohibition and excise KL Bhaskar saidTAMIL NADU CONNECTION: People from Tamil Nadu, settled in tribal-dominated areas a few decades ago under the pretext of doing business, are involved more in smuggling ganja to Chennai. They encouraged local tribal people to cultivate ganja by providing them seeds, other material and Rs. 15,000-Rs. 20,000 in cash per acre as wages. In the past two years the tribals have grown wiser and are demanding a greater share. Some of them even began cultivating ganja on their own and demanding a higher price from traders. The cultivation needs very minimal investment— just seeds and water.Eight of the 11 Agency mandals in the district— Hukkumpeta, Anantagiri, Paderu, Dumbriguda, Pedabayalu, G Madugula, Munchangiput and GK Veedhi _ are known for ganja cultivation. This cash crop is being cultivated in thousands of acres in at least 20 villages of each mandal by the tribals. Almost all these villages are Maoist-affected and thus get a sort of security cover’.Ganja is smuggled mostly to Tamil Nadu while small quantities are also smuggled to Kerala and Odisha. Police and excise officials say the Tamil smugglers show more guts than their Andhra counterparts and have been carrying on ganja business for several years despite crackdown by government agencies. The excise police act only on specific information in view of the problems involved in traversing the difficult terrain and the possibility of landing at the wrong place to find some other crop.Sometimes the smugglers, with the help of tribals and mediators, transport the dry ganja to Tamil Nadu by good vans bearing fake registration numbers. Tamil Nadu smugglers and local mediators come in cars to the Agency areas and collect the produce at pre-determined points. The tribals carry 30 kg to 40 kg bags on their heads and trek down the hilly terrain to deliver the ganja. The mediators board trains either at Visakhapatnam, Anakapalle or other stations as normal passengers.GANJA CHOCOLATES: Tamil Nadu has become a hub for making ganja chocolates by mixing jaggery and ganja which are packed neatly. Each chocolate is sold at Rs. 100. Ganja chocolate units have come up in remote areas of that state as small-scale and cottage units. The chocolates are also smuggled into neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha. The ganja chocolates are in demand at Paharganj in Delhi, the streets of Mumbai, Kolkata and other metros where students of universities and college consume mostly ganja chocolates, according to excise officials.Excise officials claim that around 200 acres of ganja fields in tribal areas have been destroyed. Inaccessible terrain and Maoist threat are coming in the way of the operations of excise and police personnel. Ganja cultivation is usually taken up in fields in the midst of other crops like chilli and maize. An official admits that they are aware that ganja is being cultivated in large tracts of land on the Andhra-Odisha border but are unable to go there. Since the areas are Maoist strongholds, even police do not dare to go there.Superintendent of police G Srinivas, however, says Maoists are not shielding ganja cultivation on the Andhra-Odisha border but the tribals are raising ganja crops with help from Tamil Nadu smugglers and the ganja fields just happen to be in Maoist strongholds.. He says regular raids are being conducted and ganja plants destroyed periodically in the tribals areas. “We will now focus on making arrests and invoking the Preventive Detention Act on the Tamil Nadu smugglers who are encouraging the ganja cultivation by luring innocent tribals,’’ he says.Excise officials are sore that only excise and police officials are straining to control the menace and neither forest nor revenue officials are bothered to chip in.Excise department’s crackdown is not yielding full results as tribals prefer to cultivate ganja on hill-tops which can be reached on foot in 8 hours and there is no motorable way for government agencies to use.
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