Vijayawada: In a major offensive against drug trafficking, the state prohibition and excise department has intensified its operations, leading to major seizures of ganja and the arrest of key accused over the last two days. Five individuals were arrested, and a total of 186 kg of dry ganja was seized in two separate raids.Excise secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena, commissioner Nishant Kumar, and director of enforcement Rahul Dev Sharma are closely supervising and monitoring these targeted raids. Acting on specific intelligence inputs, the State Task Force intercepted a large-scale ganja transportation operation near Indukurupeta village in Devipatnam mandal of Alluri Sitarama Raju district. Three persons—Galla Raviteja, Cherla Narasimha Rao alias Chinna, and Ganesh—were arrested. They are reportedly part of an interstate supply network. Authorities seized 180 kg of dry ganja from an auto-rickshaw during the operation. Investigations are ongoing to trace the source and broader connections.In a separate case, excise officials in Guntur intercepted two accused G. Yakanna and Bhukya Bharati from Telangana—near the GGH main gate and seized 8.76 kg of ganja. They allegedly received the contraband from a known drug supplier, Siva of Khammam. Further investigation is underway.
