Anti-Narcotic cell of CTF busts drug racket in Visakhapatnam by arresting five persons, seizes 70 grams of MDMA
The Hindu
The accused have procured the synthetic drugs keeping in view of New Year celebrations in the city, say police
In a joint operation, officials from Anti-Narcotic cell of City Task Force (CTF) in coordination with the III Town police busted a drugs racket and arrested five persons, who were in possession of around 70 grams of MDMA (Methylenedioxy-methamphetamine/Crystal Meth), on Saturday. The accused have procured the synthetic drugs keeping in view of New Year celebrations in the city.
The arrested were identified as S. Prasanth (27) of Dwaraka Nagar, an MBA graduate, and doing Imports and Exports business, Syed Azar Ali (23), a resident of Bengaluru, who works as a professional counsellor, R. Vishnu Vardhan (26) of Relli Veedhi, a driver, G. Vinayaka Bhagya Teja (27) of Jagadamba Junction. Another accused is a consumer V. Karunakar (22) of Kummari Street in One Town area. A few more consumers and those assisting in the sale of the drugs are yet to be arrested.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP – Zone II), K. Anand Reddy said that Prasanth, Syed Azar Ali, Vishnu Vardhan and Teja, were classmates and pursued Hotel Management course together. During 2020, Prasanth had started a self-driving car business and bought four cars after taking loan. He suffered losses in business.
Prasanth had reportedly approached Ali and sought his help to procure drugs, to recover from his loss. Ali reportedly procured 50 grams of MDMA from his cousin in Bengaluru and sold it to Prasanth for about ₹1 lakh. Prasanth had sold the MDMA to several youth through his friends Vishnu Vardhan and Teja. Prasanth used to sell one gram of MDMA for about ₹4,000, the police found.
As New Year Celebrations are round the corner, Prasanth had contacted Ali during the last week of November and had asked him to arrange 90 grams of MDMA. Ali had purchased 90 grams of MDMA from his cousin Touheed and handed it over to the brother of Prasanth, who works in an IT firm in Bengaluru, for ₹2 lakh.
As per the police, Prasanth sold 20 grams of MDMA through his friends Vishnu, Teja and another person named Dinesh from Kancharapalem, who is absconding, to V. Karunakar and a few other consumers in Visakhapatnam.
In the view of the New Year celebrations, on the instructions from Commissioner of Police, Ch. Srikanth, the CTF maintained close surveillance on the drug peddlers and busted the racket, Mr. Anand Reddy said.