The police on Saturday arrested 18 youths from two gangs and seized 21 kgs of ganja, 18 mobiles, two autorickshaws, and three motorbikes at two different locations in Anantapur town.
Superintendent of Police K.K.N. Anbhurajan told the media here that two special teams were formed with I and IV Town police of Anantapur division to capture the peddlers.
While the I Town police arrested nine youths near Cheruvukatta Sunkalamma temple on the outskirts of Anantapur, the IV Town police captured nine others at Tapovanam Circle in the town.
All the accused were in their 20s. Of the 18 accused, seventeen belonged to Anantapur district, while one person hailed from Kakinada.
The SP said that the modus operandi of the gangs was to procure the ganja stocks from the Agency areas of the North Andhra districts for less price and sell them in Anantapur and surrounding areas for a good profit. They target railway stations and bus stands to sell the contraband.
The police registered cases against the accused and took them into remand. “More peddlers would be arrested soon,” the SP said.
