Hyderabad: A huge quantity of chocolates laced with marijuana from a general store targeting schoolchildren were seized on Tuesday night. Kothur police arrested three peddlers selling the spiked confectionary.
Officials said that the accused men identified as Dheerendra Behara, Somanath Behara and Surjyamani Sahu, all natives of Odisha, were selling the contraband from a general store in Kothur area.
The drug trade, which has been running successfully in the area for quite some time, came to light after a staff of a school in Kothur noticed unusual behaviour among students. Suspecting danger, he informed the matter to the police, who in turn stepped up surveillance and nabbed the accused, who were operating under the guise of a general store.
The peddlers are targeting slum areas, migrant workers and also the poor. As these chocolates are sold in grocery shops, children are likely to buy them, so we are conducting raids on shops based on alerts, the cops said adding that these chocolates bear names as Charminar Gold Munakka and other brands.
DCP (Shamshabad) K. Narayana Reddy said that ganja-laced chocolates weighing 8 kg in two boxes have been seized from the trio. “To overcome their financial problems, the accused decided to sell the drug. They first opened a general store in Timmapur under Kothur police station limits and then started outsourcing drug-laced chocolates from Odisha and selling the items to school students and migrant workers,” the DCP briefed.
During the recent past, the accused travelled to Odisha in turns and brought the chocolates. Further investigation in the case is under way, the cops revealed.
