22 kgs ganja seized in Madanapalle, three arrested

The police in Annamayya district have seized about 22 kgs ganja worth ₹6.3 lakh and arrested three during a raid in Madanapalle mandal on Friday (October 31, 2025).

According to the police, the trio was riding two motorbikes loaded with packets of the drug. Three mobile phones, estimated at ₹2 lakh, were also seized. Two of the accused were already facing narcotics cases, and another had three earlier offences under the NDPS Act. One more suspect fled and search is on for him, police said.

A case was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985. Preliminary probe revealed that the gang’s modus operandi was to source ganja from a regular supplier, whose name the police has not disclosed, and sell it around Madanapalle at higher rates.

The latest arrests are part of a wider anti-drug push in the Madanapalle sub-division. Over the past week, police from Madanapalle Urban and Pedda Tippa Samudram police stations detained seven peddlers.

In all, ten people have been taken into custody, including an inter-state courier, three organisers and six local sellers, taking the seizure to 27.8 kgs ganja worth ₹8.1 lakh, besides five two-wheelers and nine phones. Police also identified about 20 students and youth, who were taken to a rehabilitation centre in Chittoor for counselling and treatment.