Anakapalle district police arrested five people and seized 43 litres of hashish oil worth Rs 5.5 crore at M Koduru Junction in V Madugula mandal on Monday 28 September 2026.[1] The contraband was being carried from Odisha to Palakkad in Kerala through the Paderu ghat road.[1]
Those arrested were K Rajiv Kumar, 32, and K Vineesh, 28, of Palakkad in Kerala; Kaila Sharath, 26, and Khila Kamulu, 19, of Malkangiri in Odisha; and Desi Palasi, 28, of Padua mandal in Odisha.[1] A man named Arun Kumar allegedly arranged the transport in Odisha and paid the others before fleeing to Kerala, and police were searching for him.[1]
Acting on a tip-off, V Madugula Sub-Inspector G Narayana Rao and his team intercepted the vehicles at the junction and found 43 packets of hashish oil, each holding about one litre.[1] Police said the gang had procured the oil from the Maliguda and Dabuguda areas under Chitrakonda in Malkangiri district and planned to move it to Palakkad through Anakapalle.[1] Officers also seized an autorickshaw and a motorcycle used to carry it.[1]
Police said Rajiv Kumar was the transporter and had served a prison sentence in an NDPS case registered at Golugunta police station in 2021, while Vineesh had been booked in a ganja case at Thomas Mount police station in Tamil Nadu in 2023.[1] Anakapalle Superintendent of Police Tuhin Sinha said police would continue action against drug trafficking.[1]
