Cops to deploy unmanned vehicle to control ganja smuggling

Visakhapatnam: In a joint action, the police, prohibition and excise departments decided to deploy unmanned vehicle and technology to assess the extent of ganja being grown in the Agency areas of the district, East Godavari and Andhra-Odisha Border region.

Both the departments in coordination of other agencies would chalk out plans to stop cultivation and smuggling of the weed.
Additional Director General of police (Law and order) of Andhra Pradesh Harish Kumar Gupta on Wednesday reviewed the illegal ganja trade in the state with all stakeholders in the enforcement of NDPS Act such as prohibition and excise, directorate of revenue intelligence, customs, all the departments of police and Narcotics Control Bureau.

As the ganja trade have reached alarming proportions, the government assuming of using drones and GIS mapping of the entire Agency areas in Vizag and East Godavari districts, especially those in the interior parts of Andhra -Odisha Border (AOB) that are inaccessible due to the terrain or Maoist influence.

Answering to a question on the recent talks with Israel for improving the surveillance in Vizag Agency by using aerostat technology, the DG said that talks are on and the technology may be used. Aerostats are balloons or blimps fitted with high-definition cameras that can be remotely operated.

This apart, the police are also planning to set up an exclusive dog squad to address the ganja problem in each district. Harish Gupta also spoke about inter-department and inter-state coordination to tackle the smuggling activity.

“The smuggling activity has grown exponentially and the network is now pan-India. This calls for inter-department and inter-state enforcement and we are progressing in that direction,” he said.

The ADG also informed that many of the field officers are not fully aware of the NDPS Act and the relevant sections. “We will be conducting training classes to train them,” he said.