Telangana: Peddlers go to Bengaluru on pass, get cocaine

HYDERABAD: In the first such instance after the lockdown was announced in March, 54 gm of cocaine was seized from two peddlers at Lothukunta in Alwal on Tuesday. Interestingly, the peddlers had managed to obtain an inter-state travel pass from Telangana police and got the cocaine from a Bengaluru-based Nigerian. Both the accused were arrested.
Acting on specific information, enforcement sleuths of the excise department intercepted a car at Saraswati Nagar in Lothukunta and seized 54 gm of cocaine from the possession of Taran Jyoth Singh, who runs an electronics shop in Panjagutta, and Amith Kumar, a consultant from Trimulgherry.
“Apart from 54 gram of cocaine, we have also seized two cars and three mobile phones from the accused,” assistant superintendent, excise, N Anji Reddy said. The sleuths are analysing the details in the cell phones to verify the claims of Taran and Amith who said they had purchased the cocaine for personal consumption and not for sale.
During the interrogation, the duo confessed to the probe team that they had gone to Bengaluru in the last week of May after obtaining an inter-state pass by claiming that they were travelling to Karnataka to buy face masks. “The accused purchased 70 gm of cocaine from Bengaluru-based Nigerian, Mike, by paying Rs 2 lakh and returned to Hyderabad on May 30 in their car,” said an excise official.
Mike used to stay at Paramount Colony in Tolichowki here. He was earlier arrested by city police five years ago in a cocaine peddling case. Subsequently, he shifted to Bengaluru and began selling drugs to customers in Hyderabad through his agents, said a source.
On Monday, the excise team arrested three persons in the city and seized 55 kilos of ganja they brought from Tadepalligudem in a Tata Ace vehicle, concealing the contraband under a load of bananas.