The City Task Force (CTF), a specialised unit that handles anti-narcotics operations in the city, is making use of a sniffer dog squad to tackle the menace of drug peddling in the city. The trained canines are being taken to vulnerable public places and drug hotspots for random checking.
This is for the first time that we are using sniffer dogs to detect the possession of drugs in public places and it is yielding results, said Commissioner of Police Ch. Srikanth.
According to CTF officials, the Beach Road opposite Naval Coastal Battery, YMCA, Tenneti Park, Jodugullapalem, Appu Ghar, Sagar Nagar, Rushikonda, Bheemunipatnam, Mangamaripeta, some areas in One Town, Arilova, and Kancharapalem are vulnerable places, where there is a possibility of youth consuming or carrying narcotic substances, especially ganja.
Such activities have mushroomed into a public nuisance, with locals complaining to police about the activities of the drug users.
It may be remembered that on May 1, CTF personnel along with a dog squad had conducted random checks at RK Beach. When the personnel reached YMCA, two youths tried to flee on seeing the police with the sniffer dogs. Giving chase, the CTF personnel managed to arrest one of them, a 20-year-old from Maddilapalem, and recovered 150 grams of ganja from his vehicle.
“Following instructions from the Commissioner of Police, we are conducting random checks with the dog squads at some vulnerable places. The squad has two trained canines which can catch any person carrying any form of narcotic substances,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (CTF) A. Trinad Rao.
The city police chief has laid a special emphasis on cracking down on the drug menace in the city ever since taking charge. Last month, the CTF, along with Law and Order police, busted a drug peddling case at China Waltair under III Town Police Station limits and seized 54 grams of crystal meth.
A few days ago, two persons were arrested at Venkojipalem for selling sedative injections
