In a significant drug bust, Hyderabad Police arrested two brothers, Vanchurba Kondababu (30) and Vanchurba Balakrishna (20), and seized 13.5 kg of hash oil, valued at Rs 14 crore, in Pedda Amberpet on Sunday evening. The duo was allegedly involved in an inter-state drug trafficking racket, transporting hash oil from Andhra Pradesh and Odisha to Bengaluru via Hyderabad.
The LB Nagar’s SWOT (Special Weapons and Tactics) team, along with Hayat Nagar Police, coordinated the operation. The brothers, originally from Gangaraju Madugu in Andhra Pradesh’s Alluri Seetharamaraju district, were arrested while waiting to deliver the hash oil to another contact on the Peddamberpet Outer Ring Road.
According to Rachakonda Police Commissioner G. Sudheerbabu, and senior police officials Bhaskar Reddy, Ramakrishna, and Muralidhar, the accused were initially contacted by an unknown individual at the Annavaram cattle market, who tasked them with transporting the hash oil from Bengaluru to Hyderabad. Kondababu and Balakrishna, who were already involved in drug transportation, agreed to the job for a hefty commission.
On August 10, the two brothers procured the 13.5 kg consignment from a source in Bengaluru. They were intercepted in Hyderabad, and the consignment was seized before it could be delivered. The third party who was supposed to collect the drugs from the brothers could not be located.
Police revealed that Balakrishna had been previously arrested and jailed for similar drug-related offenses. The brothers were known to sell hash oil at exorbitant prices, marking up the product by ten times its original value. The authorities are now probing whether the drugs were being sourced from other regions for distribution within Hyderabad and beyond.
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The authorities have registered a case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and are continuing their investigation. The police suspect that this arrest may unravel further connections within the inter-state drug trafficking network.
The seizure of 13.5 kg of hash oil is one of the largest drug busts in the city in recent months, highlighting the growing challenge of drug trafficking in Telangana. The SWOT team and other law enforcement agencies are intensifying efforts to dismantle such networks operating across state borders.