Hyderabad: Drug peddlers hide dope in vehicles for essentials

HYDERABAD: Drug peddlers are now using vehicles transporting essential commodities to move contraband into the city. Excise sleuths have found out that several peddlers — many of them from Africa, who had earlier been arrested and are currently out on bail — are sending drugs to their local agents in the city using this method.
In June, enforcement sleuths of the excise department busted three gangs of drug peddlers and seized 55 kilos of ganja, 79 grams of cocaine, 410 grams of charas, 105 grams of MDMA, four LSD blots and over two kilos of hash oil.In all cases, the accused were locals. Upon interrogation in two cases, excise officials found out that the main suppliers of cocaine and MDMA were African peddlers based in other cities such as Bengaluru and Delhi.

In one of the interrogations, officials found out that Mike, a Nigerian peddler who has been accused in several drug cases in the city, had been supplying cocaine from Bengaluru. “Mike stopped operating from Hyderabad three years ago after he was released on bail. He has been providing cocaine to local peddlers from Bengaluru, either in Bengaluru or through his network of couriers,” said an excise official.
Meanwhile, two other peddlers — Divine Ebuka and Cheema Good Luck, who are also brothers — have been operating from Delhi. Ebuka and Cheema are accused in multiple cases in Hyderabad and had been last arrested in 2019 for peddling cocaine. The duo earlier used to operate from Bengaluru but has now shifted base. Their names also cropped up during the interrogation of a recently-arrested gang.
“We found out that the Delhi and Bangalore-based African peddlers have been sending consignments through essential goods supply trucks by handing over parcels to drivers and cleaners. They use local associates to hand over parcels to the drivers saying that they were some medicines or documents to be collected by a friend or family members in Hyderabad. To avoid suspicion, they pay only a small amount as commission. The local suppliers are collecting the parcel from drivers on the highway or near the ORR,” according to an excise official.