A.P. cracks the whip on illicit liquor trade along inter-State borders

Illicit liquor seized from the areas along the Andhra Pradesh-Odisha border throughout raids by the Excise Division just lately. Photograph: Particular Association

The Andhra Pradesh authorities has intensified its conflict on illicit liquor with a large inter-State crackdown concentrating on smuggling and brewing operations along its borders with Odisha, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka.

The coordinated enforcement effort, a part of the State’s ‘Navodayam 2.0’ initiative, has resulted in large-scale seizures, destruction of unlawful liquor, and the dismantling of a number of brewing setups.

Below the directive of Principal Secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena, the Prohibition & Excise Division deployed 381 officers—228 from A.P. and 153 from the neighbouring States—to execute the raids throughout the border districts.

Commissioner Nishant Kumar and Enforcement Director Rahul Dev Sharma led the operations, which spanned a number of high-risk areas and yielded important outcomes.

Mr. Nishant Kumar on Monday stated that the officers destroyed over 49,000 litres of fermented jaggery wash and seized greater than 2,000 litres of illicit distilled (ID) liquor in Srikakulam and Parvathipuram-Manyam districts bordering Odisha. In ASR district bordering Telangana, 25,300 litres of fermented jaggery wash was destroyed throughout raids at Gunduvari Gudem and Pichhukulapadu.

In the meantime, preventive operations in Chittoor along the Tamil Nadu border led to the dismantling of fifty brewery models, though no manufacturing actions have been discovered.

In Anantapur and Sri Satya Sai districts close to the Karnataka border, enforcement groups booked 11 instances, destroyed over 1,600 litres of fermented jaggery wash, and arrested a number of people concerned in the unlawful trade.

Cross-border collaboration

Commissioner Nishant Kumar emphasised the significance of cross-border collaboration and praised the participation of the Central forces comparable to the CRPF in Telangana’s Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) zones.

Enforcement Director Rahul Dev Sharma affirmed that operations beneath the Navodayam 2.0 would proceed with extra depth to dismantle the liquor networks.

The crackdown marks a decisive step in curbing cross-border liquor smuggling and has set a precedent for multi-State enforcement cooperation, they noticed.