Drug smuggling: Telangana CM calls for meeting today

Those set to attend the meeting include Home Minister Mehmood Ali, Excise Minister T Srinivas Goud, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Home, and Excise departments' Chief Secretaries, DGP Mahender Reddy, Police Commissioners, and senior officials from the State STF on Drugs wing.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has called for a high-level meeting with police and excise department officials Wednesday to formulate a strategy to control smuggling of narcotic drugs through the state.

Those set to attend the meeting include Home Minister Mehmood Ali, Excise Minister T Srinivas Goud, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar, Home, and Excise departments’ Chief Secretaries, DGP Mahender Reddy, Police Commissioners, and senior officials from the State STF on Drugs wing. The CM has sought reports from district excise officials on the existing situation and the measures taken so far. The meeting will draw an action plan to prevent youth from falling into the trap of drug abuse, and rehabilitation of victims. It will also discuss illicit liquor sale in the state.

Ganja recovered from several districts of Telangana has been traced back to Araku Valley on Andhra-Odisha border where its cultivation is rampant, said sources. Past Sunday, alleged smugglers fired at an undercover police team from Telangana’s Nalgonda district during an operation. One person was injured in the firing when the forces retaliated.

Telangana Police is forming special teams to conduct operations to break smuggling networks. On October 16, 300 kgs of ganja was seized in the city and two inter-state smugglers were arrested. In August, about 3,400 kgs of ganja was seized from a truck on the outskirts of Hyderabad. In July, 4,383 kgs of ganja worth over Rs 8.4 crore was seized. “Smugglers based out of Maharashtra, Karnataka, and other states are transporting drugs through Telangana. We have busted many smuggling networks but the menace continues,” Hyderabad Police Commissioner Anjani Kumar said. Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy said they have written to DGPs of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha about ganja smuggling from across the border. Last year, in Andhra Pradesh, authorities seized 18,686 kg of ganja.

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