Authorities arrested a serving officer of the air force and a Bengaluru-based scientist after multi-state raids exposed an international ring dealing in hard drugs and caught banned substance worth Rs 230 crore, media reports said on Wednesday.
Police caught wing commander G Rajasekhar Reddy from Nanded in Maharashtra on Tuesday night when he was on his way to Goa, sources told news channel NDTV. The commander was allegedly caught with more than Rs 7 lakh in cash, five mobile phones and documents.
Officials told the Times of India that the ring dealt in the manufacture and supply of psycho-stimulant drugs that are the rage during the holiday season at rave parties across major metros. Ecstacy and amphetamines were seized.
Sources in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) told NDTV that Reddy was the alleged mastermind of the ring that also reportedly comprised Bengaluru-based scientist Venkat Rama Rao, and his wife. Rao and Reddy were classmates and resumed contact when the officer was posted in Bengaluru.
Hyderabad is believed to be the base of the ring that allegedly manufactured the drugs at a factory and trafficked them to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
{{/usCountry}}Hyderabad is believed to be the base of the ring that allegedly manufactured the drugs at a factory and trafficked them to Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
{{/usCountry}}“As soon as we received information from the Hyderabad NCB, we looked for the officer (Reddy) and found him boarding a bus, caught him and handed him over to the NCB,” The Times of India quoted Nanded assistant superintendent of police, Mahendra Pandit, as saying. More raids are likely.