Andhra ganja for Mumbai heroin

Inter-State drug peddling gang had a barter system in place

The inter-State drug peddlers nabbed by the Hyderabad city police on Thursday were following barter system for their illegal business. Ganja cultivated in the agency areas of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh was being exchanged for brown sugar (inferior-quality heroin) in Mumbai. “Further, it was brought to Hyderabad and sold to users for ₹7,000 to ₹9,000 per gram after changing several hands,” Commissioner of Police C.V. Anand said on Friday.

He announced the arrest of four persons, including the local kingpin of the gang, from whom 225 grams of brown sugar and 28 kg of ganja, worth ₹23.61 lakh was seized.

The arrested persons are Chand Shahjada Sayyed (43), a drug peddler from Dharavi in Mumbai, Shaik Abdul Alam Quadri aka Rashad (40), a mobile phone shop owner from Tadbun in Bahadurpura, Shaik Khasim alias Chinna Khasim (34), a drug peddler from Chilkanagar in Uppal and Shahid Kamal (41), a realtor from Bandlaguda in Chandrayangutta.

Narrating the case details, Mr. Anand said Quadri, who was earlier arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in an illegal forex case, used to supply Osmania biscuits to other States. During his business trip to Mumbai, he met Sayyed, and they became friends and later, partners in their illegal business. “Quadri informed his new friend about his intentions to sell ganja in Mumbai and asked him to join him as a mediator,” the CP said.

Sayyed agreed and Quadri established a ganja network with the help of Khasim, a supplier from Paderu mandal in Visakhapatnam. Khasim procured the cannabis from cultivator V. Ramesh and delivered it to Quadri for ₹8,000 per kg.

In the meantime, Sayyed, along with his associate Mahesh alias Rayees from Nalasopara in Mumbai, established a network and informed Quadri that in exchange for ganja, they supplied heroin which was delivered to Kamal for ₹2,500 per gram. “Kamal used to then sell it to the users for anywhere between ₹7,000 to ₹9,000 per gram,” Mr.Anand said.

Their drug business in the city flourished till four of their associates, all women, were caught by the Kachiguda police a week ago. Later, the kingpin and three others were nabbed by the Commissioner’s Task Force (West zone) team led by Officer on Special Duty P. Radha Kishan Rao. The accused, along with the seized property, were handed over to Kalapathar police for further investigation.