Hyderabad: Gang of 4 drug peddlers with Mumbai links held

Hyderabad: The West Zone Task Force on Thursday nabbed a gang involved in selling brown sugar (heroin) and marijuana at Kalapathar and seized 225 gm of heroin and 8 kg marijuana, together worth Rs.23.6 lakh, from their possession.

The accused were Chand Shahjadah Sayyed (43), a plumber from Dharavi in Mumbai, Shaik Abdul Alam Quadri alias Rashad alias Alam (40), a mobile technician from Bahadurpura, Shaik Qasim (34), a drug peddler from Uppal, and Shahed Kamal (41), a realtor from Chandrayangutta. Two suspects, Mahesh alias Rayees, the kingpin of the drug racket from Mumbai, and V Ramesh, a marijuana cultivator from Visakhapatnam, are absconding.

City Police Commissioner C V Anand said, "Shaik Abdul Quadri, a baker who turned to drug peddling, developed friendship with Sayyed during his trips to Mumbai for selling bakery products. Quadri shared his plan of selling narcotic substances in Mumbai and roped in Sayyed as a mediator for selling marijuana locally. Quadri established a narcotic substance supply network with his friends Qasim and Ramesh too." "The gang, with the help of Qasim, procured marijuana from Ramesh, who smuggled it to Hyderabad by train.

They sold it in Hyderabad and Mumbai. Later, Sayyed along with Mahesh exchanged marijuana with heroin from Quadri and sold it to customers," added the officer. He stated, "we were tipped off about the suspects and about their activities, following which the task force officers laid a trap and nabbed the accused. They were handed over to Kalapathar police for further booking of cases."