Inter-state ganja smugglers have managed to keep law enforcement officials on their toes by adopting innovative transport methods and so the Vizag rural police want to deploy two sniffer dogs to bust smuggling rackets in the city. The police have sent their proposal to the home department and are awaiting approval.
Officials of the police and excise department say that some smugglers pack ganja in specially designed cases that are stored beneath the cargo cabins of trucks, oil tankers and ambulances, for transport from Vizag Agency to various parts of Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Odisha.
A few days ago, the police found some trucks with packets of ganja lined beneath the cargo cabin. This technique used to be used by smugglers to conceal contraband substances within the linings of their suitcases, but traffickers have begun employing it on a large scale now.
Superintendent of police (Visakha Rural) Rahul Dev Sharma, said that enforcement officials failed to detect the ganja in most cases, as it was well concealed but German Shepherds that had been trained to detect narcotics would be able to sniff out the marijuana even when packed into concealed compartments.
We have sent a proposal to sanction at least two sniffer dogs to locate the drugs. If the government approves the proposal, the Vizag rural police can use the services of canines to seize the ganja and arrest drug peddlers. We will bring the sniffers dogs from foreign countries and train them to smell out the ganja, he said.
Sources in the police said that Andhra Pradesh DGP N. Sambasiva Rao was surprised to see ganja being cultivated over large tracts of land when he visited Vizag Agency and the Andhra-Odisha border.
According to the AP cops, Narsipatam, Anakapalle, Tuni and a few other areas in Vizag and East Godavari are hubs for ganja cultivation and smuggling, and the police department has decided to address the problem.