Narco cases rise as kingpins give the slip

Hyderabad: Though Hyderabad witnessed a decrease in the crime rate in 2017, narcotic cases recorded a hike. From 27 cases in 2015 and 77 in 2016, cases reached 94 in 2017.

Earlier this week, a gang was held with 5 kg opium. Though we catch the peddlers, the prime accused and suppliers give us the slip, making the legal proceedings long, said a task force official.

On December 11, two persons from Rajasthan were arrested by the excise department at Malkajgiri for possessing 56 gm of heroin and 1.5kg of opium worth Rs 14 lakh. In Rajasthan, growing opium is legal in some areas, but their sale is regulated. Excise officials suspected that they could have stolen the stash from those regulated areas.

“We suspect the accused came to Hyderabad by train. They travelled in a general compartment as they were not carrying ID cards,” officials said.

About opium, P. Radha Kishan Rao, DCP, commissioner’s Task Force, said, “Opium is a highly addictive narcotic drug. Traditionally, the unripened pod is slit open and the sap is dried on the outer surface of the pod. The result is a yellow-brown latex, which is scraped off from the pod and is bitter in taste. It contains varying amounts of alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, thebaine and papaverine. After purifying, 300 gram of heroin is extracted from 5 kg opium which costs about Rs 20 lakh in the open market.”

Drugs worth Rs 1 crore were seized from three foreign nationals by the police on December 29. The contraband — 250 gram cocaine and 25 gram heroin — was meant to be sold among New Year party revellers, Task Force officials of West Zone said.

Senior officials said that catching the prime accused, Ajah John Chukwu, was not an easy task. Special teams were deputed to nab him.

Mr V.V. Srinivasa Rao, Hyderabad commissioner, said that this was  one of the biggest hauls in recent years. The police had sent the contraband to the forensic science laboratory for analysis.

“We are keeping track on the sources,” he said. Investigations revealed that drug peddlers are targeting youths. Following the seizure of drugs from foreign nationals, cops are  now keeping a close watch on all the hotspots.

914 kg of ganja seized in ‘17

Nearly 914.7 kg ganja and 8,000 gm opium were seized in 2017. More than 168 Indians and 18 foreigners were arrested by the Hyderabad police in 2017.

The police seized 595.5 kg ganja in 2016 and 274.8 kg in 2015, said the Hyderabad police commissioner.

The drugs seized include ganja, cocaine, brown sugar, heroin, opium, charas, ephe-drine, green phils/LSD blots and other substances.

“An exact 8,000 grams of opium was seized this year, against 2,700 gm in 2016 and 1,850 gm in 2015,” said the official.

Out of total 203 Indians involved in narcotic drug cases, 169 were arrested in 2017 and 18 foreigners were held in the same year.