Task Force busts hash oil supply network

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force, Khairtabad Zone Team, along with the Musheerabad police, apprehended two persons involved in drug peddling and seized 367 grams of hash oil from their possession.

Police conducted a raid near Risalagadda in Musheerabad and nabbed a drug peddler, Dovari Jyothi Ratna Pradeep (34), a native of Guntur in Andhra Pradesh. He was allegedly involved in the illegal procurement and sale of the narcotic contraband hash oil. At the time of the raid, he was waiting to deliver the drug to a consumer, Vijay Kumar (46). Police seized 53 small plastic container sachets of hash oil from them.

According to the police, during interrogation Ratna Pradeep confessed that he and his associate, Shaik Mahaboob Basha of Guntur, procured hash oil in bulk in plastic containers for Rs 50,000 per litre from Tambeli Chatrapati Tirupati of Visakhapatnam.

The accused then repacked the hash oil into small plastic containers of approximately five grams each and sold them to consumers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 2,500 per five grams.

“One such consumer, Vijay Kumar, purchased a small plastic container of hash oil for Rs 2,000 and paid in cash. The contact details of all drug consumers were maintained by Shaik Mahaboob Basha, who used to make conference calls along with Ratna Pradeep,” said Andhe Srinivas Rao, Additional DCP, Task Force.

During further inquiry, Pradeep revealed that he had migrated from Guntur to Hyderabad a couple of years ago and had been residing with his associate Mahaboob in a rented house at Balaji Nagar. Due to financial difficulties, he allegedly got involved in procuring and supplying the narcotic drug hash oil in Hyderabad.

Police also said that Pradeep was earlier arrested in 2022 by the Prohibition and Excise Station, Guntur, in a hash oil case and was remanded to judicial custody. Vijay Kumar was also arrested in 2022 in a case registered under the NDPS Act.

The arrested persons, along with the seized material, were handed over to the Musheerabad police for further investigation and action.