Rs 12,000 Crore Drug Racket Busted In Hyderabad

In one of the biggest drug busts in the country, the Mumbai police on Tuesday uncovered a massive narcotics operation being run from the Cherlapalli industrial area on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

The gang, operating under the guise of a chemical factory named Waghdevi Labs, was found to be manufacturing Mephedrone (MD) on an industrial scale.

Drugs and raw chemicals worth nearly Rs 12,000 crore were seized, and the police arrested 12 people, including the factory owner, a chemist Srinivas, his aide Tanaji Pathe, and a foreign national.

According to senior officials, the Mira-Bhayander and Vasai-Virar police in Maharashtra had been tracking the gang for several years. After weeks of surveillance and intelligence gathering, a swift raid was conducted at the Cherlapalli unit. The initial raid yielded 100 grams of MD and Rs 25 lakh in cash. A follow-up search of the factory premises led to the seizure of around 32,000 litres of precursor chemicals and high-end production equipment used for large-scale drug manufacturing.

Investigations revealed that the contraband was being supplied to Maharashtra and other states.

Authorities have expressed concern that such a vast narcotics hub is operating in Hyderabad. The probe has now been widened to identify other links in the syndicate.