Interstate drug racket busted, two held in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: An interstate drug racket operating from Maredumilli agency area of Andhra Pradesh to Maharashtra via Hyderabad was busted in a joint operation by the Rachakonda Police Special Operations Team and Hayathnagar police on Tuesday night. Two persons were arrested and 358 kg of marijuana, a car and gadgets worth Rs.87 lakh was seized. The arrested […]

Hyderabad: An interstate drug racket operating from Maredumilli agency area of Andhra Pradesh to Maharashtra via Hyderabad was busted in a joint operation by the Rachakonda Police Special Operations Team and Hayathnagar police on Tuesday night. Two persons were arrested and 358 kg of marijuana, a car and gadgets worth Rs.87 lakh was seized.

The arrested persons were Shivaji Chowhan (20), a catering worker, and another person (43), a driver, both residents of Zaheerabad in Sangareddy. The prime suspect, Arjun, also from Sangareddy, and Dommu from Darakonda are absconding.

---

According to the police, Shivaji Chowhan, the catering worker, had started peddling drugs along with his friend Arjun in 2019. They had contacts with drug dealers and consumers from various States including Telanagana, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

“They procured marijuana in dry form from agency areas of Marredumilli at low rates and sold it at higher rates,” LB Nagar DCP Sunpreeth Singh said, adding that Shivaji Chowhan, the car driver, helped in smuggling the drug to various locations.

On Saturday, the two Chowhans went to Marredumilli in a car and procured 358 kg of marijuana packed into 179 packets from Dommu.

“They purchased each kg for Rs.3,000 and planned to smuggle it to Mumbai to sell at Rs.20,000 per kg. They were on the way from Marredumilli to Mumbai via Hyderabad when they were caught at Hayathnagar,” Singh said.