Cocaine hidden inside sandal heels, 1.6 grams of ‘ecstasy’ pills, and a restaurant owner-cum-drug dealer who got these from Delhi via courier — the Hyderabad police claim to have exposed a transnational narcotics network.
It started unraveling after the Cyberabad Narcotics Police Station received intelligence inputs and intercepted the owner of a restaurant, allegedly a key peddler and consumer, on July 7.
Upon search, 10 grams of cocaine, 3.2 grams of ‘OG Kush ’, and 1.6 grams of ‘ecstasy’ pills were recovered.
What caught the eye of the Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) was where the cocaine was found: inside the heel compartment of a sandal. The footwear was further packed inside a pink cardboard box, and sent through courier from New Delhi under the sender name “Fatima”, PTI reported.
The entrepreneur who was arrested has been identified as 34-year-old Surya Annamaneni. His arrest has unraveled a deep-rooted, transnational drug network involving international suppliers, pub-based consumers, courier delivery of narcotics, and digital financial transactions, the EAGLE said in a press release.
The narcotic substances were recovered by EAGLE upon a search of Annamaneni's Scorpio SUV, and a company named Shree Maruthi Courier was used to send the box in which the sandals were hidden, , NDTV reported.
Who is Surya Annamaneni?
{{/usCountry}}The narcotic substances were recovered by EAGLE upon a search of Annamaneni's Scorpio SUV, and a company named Shree Maruthi Courier was used to send the box in which the sandals were hidden, , NDTV reported.
Who is Surya Annamaneni?
{{/usCountry}}Surya Annamaneni, the entrepreneur at the centre of the big drug network bust in Hyderabad, is an engineering and MBA graduate. He is based in Kompally and owns the restaurant 'Malnadu Kitchen', reports said.
Before his hospitality career began in Hyderabad, he worked as a sales manager in Bengaluru in 2020.
He was interrogated following his arrest, and not only confessed to being involved in both the consumption and distribution of illegal drugs, but also disclosed that his primary sources, police said.
Nigerian angle, and how it all worked
A network of Indian suppliers, and a group of Nigerian traffickers operating out of Delhi, Bengaluru, and Goa, were part of the entrepreneur's network, he allegedly told the police.
The Nigerian traffickers were identified as Nick, Jerry, Dezmond, Stanley, and Prince.
He allegedly said he regularly placed orders for cocaine and MDMA with a Nigerian national, making payments through bank accounts provided by the supplier, news agency PTI reported.
The narcotics were then shipped via courier services, concealed inside everyday household items to avoid detection. ₹1.39 lakh were transferred through a business entity associated with Annamaneni's restaurant, and an additional ₹41,000 were withdrawn as cash, according to the police.
Once received, the drugs were stored either in the accused’s vehicle or at his restaurant before being distributed to buyers.
Between 2021 and 2025, the accused said he bought cocaine 20 times, usually consuming it at high-end pubs in Hyderabad.
A case has been registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and he has been remanded to judicial custody.