Drug racket busted, raw material seized in Cyberabad

Hyderabad: The Special Operations Team (SOT) of Cyberabad cracked a major pharma drug racket, nabbed one person and seized huge quantities of the raw materials used to manufacture Alprazolam from his possession.

Alprazolam is a potent tranquillizer commonly used to treat anxiety and panic disorders. It is used in the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and social anxiety disorders.

Sayyed Nizam, the accused, had purchased chemicals for around Rs 5 lakh. Those chemicals could have been used to prepare Alprazolam worth up to '4 crore in the open market.

Dayanand Reddy, the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) - Cyberabad SOT, in an official release said that Nizam, who used to work as a driver, met a man named Satish, a chemist at a pharmaceutical company, around five months ago. Satish told him that he could earn huge sums of money by selling Alprazolam illegally, and the two of them began looking for suppliers for the raw materials to prepare the drug.

Their search came to an end when they met Basheer, who agreed to supply the raw materials required for the production of large quantities of Alprazolam. Basheer delivered the raw materials to Nizam at the room rented by him in IDA Bolaram.

However, Nizam was nabbed by the police. A vehicle, as well as 400 kg of phosphorous pentasulphide in powder form and 200 litres of benzyl cyanide in liquid form, were seized from his possession. Upon being questioned, he admitted that he had been making preparations to manufacture the banned drug, which he planned to sell.

The suspect and the seized material were handed over to the Bachupally Police. The police are on the lookout for Satish and Basheer.