Hyderabad: Two held with hashish oil worth Rs 1.2 crore

Rachakonda police busted an interstate drug smuggling operation, arresting two men and seizing 20 kg of hashish oil worth Rs 1.2 crore. The duo smuggled the oil via Hyderabad to Bengaluru. The main supplier and buyer are still at large.

Hyderabad: The Rachakonda Special Operations Team (SOT) along with the local police busted an interstate drug racket and arrested two persons and seized 20 kg of hashish oil worth Rs 1.2 crore on Wednesday.

The arrested persons were identified as P Keshava Rao (40), an agriculturist from Alluri Sitaramaraju district in Andhra Pradesh, and Jayaram Khemundu (26), a civil contractor from Odisha. Keshava Rao was earlier arrested in a drug case by the Anakapalli Town police. According to the police, the suspects were found to be procuring hashish oil from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha and smuggling it to Bengaluru through Hyderabad.

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“The narcotic substance was being smuggled through Hyderabad to supply it to drug consumers in Bengaluru. Hyderabad is being used as a transit route,” said G Sudheer Babu, Police Commissioner, Rachakonda.

The suspects bought hashish oil at lower rates from local dealers and sold it nearly 10 times more to consumers in Bengaluru and made easy money, he said. It is learnt that approximately 35 kg to 40 kg of marijuana is used in preparing 1 kg of hashish oil.

Following a tip-off, the duo was nabbed while waiting for a receiver at a hotel on the Outer Ring Road near Peddamberpet in Abdullapurmet. The contraband material was seized from them. Efforts are on to trace and nab the main source Krishna and Bengaluru-based receiver, who were absconding.