Times of India
22 September 2010
Hyderabad, India

For the first time in recent history, excise and prohibition department investigators arrested a ninemember drug peddlers’ gang and seized 950 grams of Ephedrine worth about Rs 50 lakh from their possession. They reportedly took four more persons, including a Nigerian, into custody late on Tuesday night.

Three months ago, D Madhusudhan Rao and Ranganathan, employees of Allied Aviation Private Limited, an air cargo booking centre at Prakash Nagar, came across a scooter seat booked for transportation to Brazil. The seat attracted the attention of the duo as they noticed white powder leaking from it.

When they opened it, the duo found white crystalline powder stuffed in the seat, which they thought was cocaine and decided to steal it. They hatched a plan to replace the seat with another one and share the two kilos of narcotic substance equally amongst themselves.

Ranganathan came in contact with a Nigerian, Kolo, and managed to sell the narcotic substance. However, even after trying to sell it with the help of some low-level officials like Jubilee Hills constable D Bhagyaraj, Madhusudhan could not strike a deal and his efforts attracted the attention of the excise and prohibition department sleuths.

Acting on a tip off, sleuths laid a trap and caught D Bhagyaraj, K Sadanand, Syed Adil Ahmed, V Mahesh, B Lavan, Y Sravan Kumar, B Sridhar and B Rajesh Khanna near Manjeera Hotel at Kacheguda during a vehicle check and seized 800 grams of Ephedrine from their possession, commissioner, excise and prohibition, V K G Agarwal said at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Based on the information given by them, the investigators then raided Madhusudhan Rao’s house at Yellareddyguda and seized another 150 grams of Ephedrine from his possession.

Working on the leads given by him, police nabbed Ranganatham along with three others, including the Nigerian drug peddler, Kolo, from the city on Tuesday. Kolo was the person who managed to sell Ranganathan’s share of Ephedrine.

About 40 grams of the narcotic substance was seized from them.When police raided Kolo’s residence, they were shocked to discover that about 20 affluent women were found there to buy and snort the narcotic substance.

"There were several young men and about 20 rich women present at Kolo’s place. Three guards tried to prevent us from entering his house," a prohibition and excise department official said. The arrested nine along with the seized contraband have been handed over to the Kacheguda prohibition and excise station. They were produced before court and remanded in judicial custody.