Paderu (ASR District): A high-level NCORD (Narcotics Coordination) meeting was held at the Collector’s Conference Hall in Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district on Thursday. Visakhapatnam Range DIG Gopinath Jetty, district collector AS Dinesh Kumar, District SP Amit Bardar, Additional SP (Admin) Dheeraj Kunibilli and officers from various departments attended. Revenue, Forest, Health, ICDS, Education, Agriculture, Horticulture, and Women & Child Welfare departments participated.

During the review, the District SP presented the district’s anti-drug enforcement statistics. He said that in 2024, a total of 316 NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) cases were registered, leading to the seizure of 23,366.25 kg of dry ganja and 91.2 kg of hashish oil. A total of 970 individuals were arrested.

In 2025 so far, 62 cases have been registered, resulting in the seizure of 7,082.74 kg of dry ganja and 5.5 kg of hashish oil. A total of 129 individuals were arrested in connection with these cases. The police have also destroyed 93.01 acres of illicit ganja plantations identified using drones.

The district has submitted 17 PIT-NDPS (Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) proposals to higher authorities. Action has been initiated under the PD (Preventive Detention) Act against 50 habitual offenders, all of whom have been incarcerated.

As part of the awareness and prevention strategy, the district has conducted 907 outreach programmes in schools and colleges during this year.

The district administration urged the public to share any information about illegal ganja activities. Informants can contact the District NDPS Cell at 9381123100 or the EAGLE helpline at 1930. The identity of informants will be kept strictly confidential.