Hyderabad: An interstate drug smuggling gang was busted by the South Zone taskforce team on Friday. The police arrested five members of the gang and seized 28 grams of heroin. The gang was smuggling the banned substance to the city from Mumbai to sell to customers here.
Ishaq Moinuddin, a drug peddler in the city met the main suspect Usman Shaik, who operates from Mumbai, and another member of the gang, Samad Rais Khan, while trying his luck in acting in Bollywood. On Thursday, Ishaq and Samad came from Mumbai to Hyderabad with a consignment of heroin. Acting on credible information, the taskforce team caught them on Friday morning at Ishaq’s residence in Kamathipura.
Hyderbad city commissioner Anjani Kumar said the gang used to smuggle drugs by road.
“They used to travel in private buses and hide the contraband in their luggage but place the bags away from them to avoid being caught during police checking. The illegal market price for one gram of heroin is around Rs 11,000,” the commissioner said.
Two other persons, Khaja Wajeed and Abhishek, who were agents as well as customers, were also arrested. They are drug addicts and buy the drugs from Ishaq for their personal use and also supply them to their friends during parties, added the official.
Mr Kumar said that identifying and intercepting drug traffickers is one of the Hyderabad police’s highest priorities to protect the public from the serious harm criminals inflict and the public health damage they cause.
