Drug manufacturing racket busted in Hyderabad, Ephedrine worth Rs 70 crore seized

Hyderabad, Oct 9 (IANS) Telangana’s elite anti-drugs Task Force EAGLE has seized 220 kg of Ephedrine valued Rs 70 crore in the international market.

The Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) team busted the Ephedrine manufacturing racket at a residential flat in Jeedimetla on the outskirts of Hyderabad and arrested four persons.

According to EAGLE, main accused Shiva Ramakrishna Parama Varma, from whose flat the substance was seized, is a former chemist and real estate entrepreneur from Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh.

Varma, who was previously arrested in 2017 and 2019 for drug offences, had approached Dangeti Anil, Production Manager at PNM Life Sciences, with a proposal to produce Ephedrine at the company’s facility in IDA Bollarum. Anil roped in the company directors Venkata Krishna Rao and M. Prasad.

Varma supplied key chemicals and provided Rs 8 lakh for additional raw materials. The group produced 220 kg of Ephedrine and stored in Varma’s flat.

Police arrested Varma, Anil, Krishna Rao and Musini Dorababu, production operator at Vignasai Laboratories Pvt Ltd, who helped identify potential buyers.

M. Prasad, co-director of PNM Life Science, is absconding. EAGLE has seized the company’s manufacturing unit.

In another operation, EAGLE along with Cyberabad Police have seized cocaine worth Rs 7.5 lakh and arrested two peddlers near Manchirevula on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Personnel of EAGLE along with Narsingi police made the arrests when the accused were allegedly transporting the drugs from Mumbai to Hyderabad.

The accused had been supplying cocaine to consumers in the city, mainly affluent sections and week-end party circles.

Acting on a specific intelligence, a joint team of EAGLE officers and Narsingi Police laid a trap near Manchirevula in Ranga Reddy district and intercepted the two suspects.

The team found 107.4 grams of cocaine in their possession and seized the same along with two mobile phones. The total seizure is valued at Rs 7.5 lakh.

Those arrested have been identified as Siram Ananth Kumar (50) and Peruru Veerababu (32), both residents of Hyderabad.

The police were on the lookout for the third accused Karthikeya Shekar, who is based in Mumbai.

Police investigations revealed that Ananth Kumar has been addicted to cocaine since 2017 and turned to peddling to sustain his habit. He along with his associate Veerababu were sourcing the drug from Karthikeya Shekar in Mumbai and selling it in Hyderabad.

Yogesh Goutam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rajendranagar, Cyberabad, said a case has been registered at Narsingi Police Staton under sections 8(c) r/w 22(c), 27A and 29 of NDPS Act.

--IANS

ms/uk