Four held for drug peddling in Hyderabad, contraband worth Rs 3L seized

Hyderabad: Police on Wednesday, December 24, held a group of four people, including a woman, for drug peddling and consumption in Hyderabad, and seized contrabands worth Rs 3 lakh from the accused.

The accused were identified as Ummidi Immanuel, 25, an event manager in Hyderabad and a native of Kakinada in Andhra Pradesh, Chodavarapu Susmitha Devi, 21, a software engineer and a native of Andhra Pradesh; Gorla Sai Kumar, 28, a bike taxi driver and a food delivery agent and native of Andhra Pradesh, and Talabattula Taraka Laxmikanth Ayyappa, 28 a private employee and resident of Chikkadpally.

According to the police, Immanuel was staying at Kondapur and discontinued his education due to financial issues. He worked as an event manager. He and Susmitha were in a live-in relationship. Immanuel was allegedly addicted to drugs and gradually became a drug peddler, the statement from the police said.

He was involved in multiple criminal cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act across Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. He procured contraband drugs such as weed, MDMA, LSD blots, and ecstasy pills through suppliers who are currently absconding, and later through dark web marketplaces using the Tor web browser.

Payments were made through Binance and Trust Wallet by converting Indian rupees into USDT cryptocurrency. Drugs were delivered through courier services like DTDC and India Post to the peddler by the absconding suppliers, the release said.

Devi is a BSc graduate and was employed at Cognizant in Hyderabad. Despite being aware of Immanuel’s involvement in drug peddling, she managed his financial transactions. Devi also received payments for drugs in her bank account.

She sold the drugs in Hyderabad through sub-peddler Sai Kumar, who worked as a food delivery agent and a bike taxi driver, earning Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per month, the police note said.

Kumar is a drug consumer who received drugs from Immanuel. Kumar also delivered drugs to other consumers based on instructions from Susmitha and Immanuel. After being alerted, the Hyderabad Narcotics Enforcement Wing arrested the accused, along with Ayyappa from Chikadpally.

An investigation revealed that Imanuel and Susmitha used to purchase the drugs from suppliers, who are absconding. The police seized 22 grams of hydroponic weed, six LSD blots, 5.5 grams of ecstasy pills, cash worth Rs 50,000 and four mobile phones from the accused. The police said the drugs were valued at Rs 3,21,000.

They were booked under the NDPS Act of Chikkadpally Police.