The searches were carried out after a gap of two months under new ACB Director General B Prasada, who took charge last month from D Boobathi Babu.
The drive was launched in January this year to expose alleged nexus between liquor syndicates, Excise Department officials and politicians in Andhra Pradesh.
After the latest searches, the ACB registered 22 cases relating to the fraud committed in auction of liquor shops in 15 districts. It also arrested 20 persons linked to liquor syndicates, officials said.
It was found that liquor syndicates used the names of poor people/white card holders and obtained licences for wine shops by subverting the legal process and running the liquor trade in collusion with excise officials, ACB Director General Prasada Rao said in an official release here.
During investigations, it was revealed that liquor syndicates had been running the business in the names of `binamidars' (ostensible owners) as wine shops have been allotted to BPL families who have no financial resources to deposit huge amount for licences, the release said.
The searches were conducted in the districts of East Godavari and West Godavari, Krishna, Srikakulam, Kurnool, Anantapur, Kadapa, Nellore, Prakasam, Chittoor, Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Karimnagar, Nizamabad and Medak, he said.
In April, the ACB had registered 26 criminal cases against people linked to liquor syndicates and arrested 14 persons, including excise officials.
