Police bust drug ring in Kukatpally, seize cocaine and ephedrine worth ₹1 crore

Kukatpally police and Balanagar SOT bust gang smuggling cocaine and ephedrine, including serving police constable; investigation ongoing.

A gang of seven, including a serving police constable, was busted during their attempt to smuggle high-value drug mixture of cocaine and ephedrine during a joint operation by the Kukatpally police and Balanagar Special Operations Team (SOT).

The accused, include Unnam Surendra, a 31-year-old unemployed man from Tirupati; Dothireddy Haribabu Reddy, a contractor; Chegudi Mercy Margaret and Shaik Masthan Vali, both fast-food business operators from Addanki and Devaraju Yesu Babu, a self-employed loan agent. The accused were arrested near Jaya Nagar in Kukatpally and 820 grams of the contraband worth ₹1 crore was seized from them.

The Kukatpally Police said that the mastermind identified as Gunashekar, a serving Armed Reserve Constable from Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh and Bengaluru-based peddler Appanna are yet to be arrested. Investigation revealed that Gunashekar proposed the idea of selling ephedrine for profit. Enticed by the promise of easy money, Surendra along with the other four, joined the scheme.

Surendra had previously worked with Mercy Margaret at Keerthana Finance in Prakasam district, where he would refer clients for gold loans. A financial dispute reportedly arose between Surendra and Margaret, involving her friend Masthan Vali. In an attempt to resolve the issue, Surendra’s associate Haribabu Reddy intervened and later connected with Yesu Babu, who claimed to know potential drug buyers in Hyderabad.

On May 29, Surendra collected the cocaine-ephedrine mixture from Gunashekar in Tirupati. The group then travelled to Hyderabad via Guntur and congregated in Jaya Nagar, Kukatpally, intending to distribute the drug. On June 2, while searching for customers in the Bhagyanagar area, their suspicious movements drew the attention of patrolling officers. One of the suspects attempted to escape but was caught. Further investigation into the case is underway.