Hashish oil worth Rs 3 crore seized in Vizag

Visakhapatnam: Officials of Excise Department today seized 95kg of hashish oil worth Rs 3 crore and arrested three persons in this connection.

Acting on concrete information, a team of 30 officials of Andhra Pradesh Prohibition and Excise Department, led by Assistant Commissioner S V V N Babji Rao, raided a place at Alagam under G Madugula mandal and seized 95kg of the oil.

The oil (a thick liquid made from dissolving ganja in solvents that include acetone and alcohol) is worth Rs 3 crore in the market, Rao said, adding three persons involved in preparing the product were arrested from the spot.

The officials also seized about 290kg of ganja and some equipment used for manufacturing the oil, he said.

The arrested were identified as V Chinna Rao (22), M Pedaraju (50) and K Arun Kumar (50), all natives of Alagam.

Another person working with them, U Raja Rao, managed to flee from the spot.

More persons may be part of the gang, he said.

Ganja smugglers prepare the oil as it is easy to transport and also difficult to detect, said Babji Rao.