Hyderabad: Father-son duo caught for drug peddling by SOT

Officials seized 100 grams of heroin, cash and mobile phones, altogether worth Rs 12 lakh.

Hyderabad: The Cyberabad Special Operations Team (SOT) along with the local police have busted an interstate drug racket and caught a father-son duo for drug peddling at Balapur on Friday.

Officials seized 100 grams of heroin, cash and mobile phones, altogether worth Rs 12 lakh.

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The arrested persons are Siddiq Shah alias Siddiq (31), cosmetics trader and drug peddler, and his father Hanif Shah (65), a scrap dealer, both from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh. The absconding drug dealer is Montu, from Pratapghad district in Rajasthan.

According to the police, Hanif Shah, who supported his family of eight children by running a scrap shop eventually started a cosmetics business with his third son – Siddiq Shah. Despite initial success, the cosmetics venture failed, leading them to seek alternative sources of income. This search for financial stability led them down the path of illegal drug trade.

“The suspects confessed that drug peddling yielded an alternative good income and they developed contacts with local drug peddlers. They established a connection with a supplier Montu. The duo purchased heroin at a low price and intended to sell it at a significantly higher price in Hyderabad,” said G.Sudheer Babu, Police Commissioner, Rachakonda.

Accordingly, they bought 100 grams of heroin for Rs 6 lakh from the source at Ratlam, concealed in plastic covers in their bags and came to Hyderabad for selling it to known consumers.

On Friday night, the duo was caught by the police team at Balapur when they were waiting to sell marijuana to customers. Efforts are on to identify the consumers and to nab the absconding peddler.