Cyberabad police seize 254 kg of marijuana in Hyderabad; 5 peddlers arrested

The five drug peddlers were arrested on charges of smuggling marijuana from Visakhapatnam to Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai via Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Special Operations Team (SOT) along with the local police nabbed five drug peddlers on charges of smuggling marijuana from Visakhapatnam to Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai via Hyderabad, at Rajendranagar on Tuesday.

Officials seized 254 kg of marijuana worth Rs 88.90 lakh, a country made firearm, 11 live rounds, altogether worth Rs 1.04 crore.

The arrested persons are Thakur Sachin Singh, main drug peddler from Uttar Pradesh, Mohd Nadeem, Mohd Saqlain and Mohd Saleem from Mumbai and Prashanth Singh from UP.

According to the police, on September 6, Sachin Singh coordinated with known Mumbai peddlers Nadeem, Saqlain, and Saleem to escort his vehicle from Araku to Hyderabad. The group arrived in Vijayawada by Ertiga car on September 7 and proceeded to Araku Valley on September 8, where they purchased 254 kg of ganja. The plan was to deliver 150 kg to Amit Singh in Pratapghar, UP, and the remaining 100 kg to the Mumbai peddlers.

On September 10, while enroute to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra via Hyderabad, the group stopped at a service road near Rajendranagar police station to transfer 100 kg of ganja to another vehicle.

Acting on reliable information, the SOT Rajendranagar team and Rajendranagar Police intercepted two vehicles at the ORR service road near Exit No. 17 and found 254 kg of dry ganja. Another vehicle was used for piloting.

Upon seeing the police, two individuals, Vinod Kumar Yadav and Ravinder Yadav, fled the scene. The police seized the ganja, 32 caliber pistol from Sachin Singh, and two vehicles.