Hidden under maize crop, man grew ganja for years. A glitch gave him away

It was the perfect camouflage. Some 1,731 ganja plants growing under 6-feet-tall maize across 2 acres of land, fed by a drip irrigation system — concealed, innocuous and thriving. Then, the drip irrigation broke — and the game was up.

On October 16, the Andhra Pradesh Police arrested a farmer in Duttalur village in Nellore district for growing ganja on two of the 9.5 acres of land. This came after the local police received an anonymous tip about illegal ganja cultivation in the area, allegedly discovered after the drip irrigation system stopped working.

The plants were so well hidden that, according to officials, an anti-narcotics team that had swept the area as part of an operation to prevent illegal ganja cultivation had seen only the maize crop.

“A drip irrigation system was installed to facilitate cultivation. Preliminary investigation revealed that the illegal cultivation had allegedly been carried out for approximately three months under the supervision of U Subba Reddy, a landlord and farmer, of Duttalur. After finding hundreds of ganja plants at the beginning of the raid on October 15, officers flew a drone to identify the extent of the cultivation, and even called the Duttalur Executive Magistrate to record it,” said SPS Nellore SP Ajitha V.

The village is located on NH-565, which connects to other interstate highways leading to Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru, officials said. (Express photo)

The village is located on NH-565, which connects to other interstate highways leading to Chennai, Delhi and Bengaluru, officials said.

According to the police, this isn’t the first time the suspects have grown ganja.

“They had cultivated it previously and smuggled it out of the state and sold it for crores. The main accused confessed that nine others were involved, including two who financed it, and two others who were supposed to purchase the crop planted about 3 months ago. The crop could potentially have generated crores of rupees upon harvesting and sale,” an official said.

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A case has been registered under the NDPS Act, 1985, at the Duttalur Police Station. After obtaining permission from various authorities, the illegally cultivated ganja crop was destroyed on Friday morning. (Express photo)

A case has been registered under the NDPS Act, 1985, at the Duttalur Police Station. After obtaining permission from various authorities, the illegally cultivated ganja crop was destroyed on Friday morning.

This discovery comes just after Andhra Pradesh’s ‘Operation Trishul’. A state-wide, three-pronged campaign directed by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, the operation aims for zero drugs, zero tolerance towards atrocities against women, and zero road accidents.

Over the last few days, the state has seized drugs worth Rs 11 lakh at Vijayawada Railway Station and arrested an MBA student for allegedly transporting drugs by train from Bengaluru. The police also intercepted a truck allegedly carrying 385 kg of ganja in Visakhapatnam district.