Ganja worth Rs 75 lakhs was seized from a dry riverbed near Veepankulami village in Ramanathapuram district. According to the police, the goods were to be smuggled into Sri Lanka.
Acting on a tip-off, the police rushed to the area in the village and recovered 158 kg of ganja packed in 170 bags buried in the riverbed.
Sri Lanka is allegedly an important transit point for Indian smugglers to transport ganja to other nations. Apparently, authorities regularly find boats smuggling the illegal substance around the coasts of Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Indiatimes reported that the ganja is grown in north Andhra and Kerala.
The report also added that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has asked the Andhra Pradesh police to investigate related illegal operations. Ganja is reportedly grown by tribal folks on the Andhra-Odisha borders and the Andhra Pradesh government is using satellite images to map fields that grow it.
