The Bapatla district police arrested 16 accused, seized 25 kg of ganja worth ₹2,50,000 along with ₹20,000 in cash, eight cell phones and a vehicle used for illegal transportation of the contraband, on Monday.
Bapatla Superintendent of Police Vakul Jindal, addressing a press conference, said that they will open a suspect sheet on the accused persons arrested in ganja smuggling and trading cases.
Bapatla Rural Circle Inspector Venugopal Reddy said that they arrested 16 out of 18 accused and the remaining persons will be arrested shortly.
Mr. Jindal said that they have lodged a criminal case under Sections 8 read with 20 (B) (ii) (C), 20 (B) (ii) (B) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The accused were identified as Bogiri Pradeep, 27, Pujari Prem Chand, 22, both hailing from Stuartpuram. The other accused persons are from various places in Bapatla, Visakhapatnam and other districts. All of the accused are youngsters in this case, Mr. Jindal added.
