Cops bust e-cigarette racket in Hyderabad, two arrested
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Hyderabad: The TG Anti Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) officials on Monday busted an e-cigarette racket and arrested two people. The officials seized 1,217 e-cigarettes worth Rs 25 lakh from their possession. The arrested were identified as Sadiq Lalani and his brother Anil Lalani, natives of Nampally.
According to Sandeep Shandilya, TGANB director, the duo was selling banned e-cigarettes and vapes to the youth and school-going children. "They created a WhatsApp group with nearly 500 people in the name of 'SID'. They regularly share advertisements of the new products in the group. The group members purchase them by making online payments," Shandilya further said.
Amit, a native of New Delhi, and Waseem from Mumbai, were supplying the e-cigarettes to Sadiq and Anil. "If the payments are above Rs 50,000, the duo uses the services of hawala operators — Mangi Ramji Goutham and CR Sharma — both from Hyderabad," he said.
The officials found that the accused even used the services of transport aggregators and courier services to deliver e-cigarettes and vapours to the end users, who place the order over the phone. "Aggregators and courier companies will be held responsible for not verifying what is being picked up for delivery," Shandilya said.
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Meanwhile, the police identified 13 juveniles who were involved in the network. "From the bank transactions, a conservative estimate can be made that they did e-cigarette sales to the tune of around Rs 1 crore in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. E-cigarettes have 20 times more nicotine content and are addictive. All the accused are liable for 1-year imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1 lakh if convicted," the director further said.
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