Latest news with #TGAntiNarcoticsBureau
Time of India
6 days ago
- Time of India
Chemistry PhD holder mastermind in alprazolam racket
Hyderabad: The man who played a key role in manufacturing 100 kg of alprazolam, seized from two factories in Maharashtra recently, holds a PhD in Chemistry, according to police investigating the case. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The drug was allegedly supplied to toddy compounds in Telangana and Karnataka. Following raids on two premises in Ahilyanagar and Satara of Maharashtra, TG Anti Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) officials found that the factories were illegally manufacturing alprazolam without obtaining necessary permission from govt authorities. Providing crucial technical support to the gang was Amar Singh Deshmukh from Satara district, who holds a PhD in Chemistry from a college in Pune. "He owns Suryaprabha Pharmachem in Satara. From the outside, it looks like any other factory. He is an expert in improvising the chemical to stage 4 and 5 by sourcing stage-3 chemicals through his contacts," a TGANB official told TOI. Police have named Prasad Kadere of Umarga Osmanabad as the prime accused in this racket, while the others were identified as Vishwanath from Daund, Choudary Shabbir Ali from Umarga, Parmeshwar Vijay Bardale from Lathur, Swamy Goud from Gulbarga in Karnataka, and M Laxman Goud of Nizamabad district. It was Deshmukh who, after producing the drug, supplied it to Prasad. The prime accused then handed it over to the two transporters — Ali and Parameshwar. Swamy and Goud received the consignment from transporters and distributed it among known toddy compound owners. Drug was at stage-5 during raid "The main challenge for the bureau was to ensure that all the accused — located at different places in Maharashtra, Telangana and Karnataka — were caught simultaneously along with the drug. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now A coordinated effort from inter-state police was needed so that none of them could escape. The raid was conducted after we got information that the preparation of the drug was in stage 5, which is when it is called alprazolam," an official said. Under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, chemical combination up to stage-3 in the making of alprazolam is not an offence. "If anyone processes the substance to stage-4 and stage-5, it becomes an offence. We were particular about the seizure of the drug at that stage," another source added. Although the police seized 100 kg of alprazolam and 338 kg of stage-4 chemical, officials during the questioning of the arrested, found that 100 kg of alprazolam had already been sold. Youth offered initial lead After reports of adulterated toddy came to light in April in Kamareddy district, TGANB officials, with the help of district police, conducted awareness camps involving youngsters. They were given sports kits and motivated to share information related to drug abuse. A few days later, while police were probing the adulterated toddy case, some youth offered information, which acted as initial leads that eventually unravelled the inter-state drug racket.
Time of India
21-04-2025
- Time of India
Cops bust e-cigarette racket in Hyderabad, two arrested
1 2 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. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Co-Founder of Google Brain, Andrew Ng, Is Reported To Have Read Every... Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo 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.
