All insurgency groups across the globe almost have one thing in common. Their major source of funding is from drug trafficking and the groups could be linked directly or indirectly to the trade. This was also substantiated in a 2007 survey conducted by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Keeping this in mind, it is learnt from reliable sources in the State Intelligence Bureau (SIB) that the bank accounts of the ganja smugglers who were caught by the Excise Department and the police - 731 and 2,458 respectively between 2015 and 2017 – in the Visakhapatnam agency area have been kept under surveillance. Ganja is rampantly grown in at least nine mandals such as Chintapalli, GK Veedhi, G.Madugula, Pedabayalu and Munchingput in Visakhapatnam agency. All the nine mandals in the Eastern Ghats are thickly forested and there is considerable presence of the banned Left Wing Extremist group - the CPI (Maoist).
Drug-terror connection
It is from these mandals that the reign of the Maoists extends to the forests of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and parts of Maharashtra and ganja cultivation is very high in these regions. And there is all possibility that the Maoists have a share in the trade, said a senior officer from the Intelligence Department. It is learnt that apart from the Prohibition and Excise Department and the State Intelligence Bureau, the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Intelligence Bureau have also put some accounts under surveillance. According to Rahul Dev Sharma, SP, Visakhapatnam, it is a known fact that the ganja smugglers are used by the Maoists for their logistic support. “But we are exploring the funding angle and arms trade,” he said.
As per a conservative estimate by the Department of Prohibition and Excise, about 6,000 to 10,000 acres could be under ganja cultivation in the Agency area and each acre yields about one tonne. “The price ranges from ₹2,000 per kg. at the cultivation point to ₹15,000 in upscale markets in metros. Even if one takes ₹5,000 per kg as the average price and 6,000 acres under cultivation, the trade value exceeds ₹3,000 crore. Even if a small percentage is passed on to the extremists, it’s a good amount,” said Assistant Excise Commissioner (Enforcement).
