Guntur: For a healthy and peaceful society, everyone must strive to check illegal transport and sale of ganja, said SP S Satish Kumar. He addressed a media conference at the Police Kalyana Mandapam here on Tuesday. He said with the cooperation of president (Operations), Jindal Plant, MV Chari, and under the supervision of the Pollution Control Board, Fire Services, and Health Department, the ganja was destroyed in compliance with the rules of the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau), after taking all precautionary measures.

He said from 2016 to 2024, across 17 police stations in Guntur district, 113 cases were registered, in which 1,868 kg of ganja stock, 2.233 litres of ganja liquid, 0.023 grams of MDMA, and other synthetic narcotics were seized. He said as per the law and planned procedure, these were destroyed at the Jindal Waste-to-Energy Plant in Nallapadu police limits.

He said in the year 2025 so far, 44 cases have been registered in Guntur district. These include the seizure of 143.96 kgs of dry ganja, 1.172 litres of ganja liquid, 500 grams of hydro ganja, and small quantities of other narcotics.

He said out of the 219 accused persons in these cases, 173 have been arrested. All accused are between the ages of 14 and 40 years, with 107 of them being under 25 years old. To curb their activities in future, the PIT NDPS Act allows for immediate punishment for those repeatedly involved in ganja-related crimes, with imprisonment of up to one year.

He said in coordination with the Eagle unit, several raids have been conducted and surveillance has been placed on old offenders. A total of 82 individuals involved in two or more cases have been identified, and 10 of them have been geo-tagged to monitor whom they meet, where they travel, and whether they are going to agency areas. Eagle division SP Nagesh Babu was also present.