In a significant crackdown, the Rachakonda Special Operations Team (SOT) and local police arrested four individuals involved in an interstate marijuana smuggling racket and seized 166 kg of the contraband valued at Rs50 lakh. The operation, conducted in Hayathnagar on Friday, also resulted in the confiscation of a car and mobile phones, pushing the total seizure value to Rs65 lakh.
The arrested individuals were identified as Vikas Baban Salve, a painter by profession, along with Ranganath Yurajn Sadve, Sagar Gajanan, and Amol Narayan Borde, all hailing from Maharashtra.
According to Rachakonda Police Commissioner G. Sudheer Babu, Salve initiated the drug operation after observing that many construction and daily wage workers from Maharashtra consumed marijuana. In pursuit of easy money, he contacted Maik alias Rahul, the main marijuana supplier from Malkangiri, Odisha.
On June 19, the accused traveled to Malkangiri and obtained 166 kg of marijuana. They were transporting the contraband through Hyderabad en route to Maharashtra when they were intercepted at Hayathnagar by the SOT and local police.
The seized marijuana was being moved in a car and intended for resale in Maharashtra at a higher margin. Authorities said Hyderabad was being used as a transit route for the drug movement.
Efforts are ongoing to trace and apprehend Rahul, the main supplier, who remains at large.
