Hyderabad: EAGLE (Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement) sleuths who recently busted an inter-state mephedrone racket in the state, have found that the accused had gone on a dhaba buying spree across Telangana, Karnataka and a few other states. Their objective: build contacts with transporters to help them ship drugs and their precursors.Apart from a dhaba in Chegunta (Medak district), police identified a few more in Sadasivpet and Bengaluru. Officials are now verifying if similar eateries were bought in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.In the past, another drug racket accused was found running a dhaba in Shadnagar, Telangana.“Accused who make big profits through the drug business are into dhaba business too. More than making profits, their motive is to connect with transporters and enhance their logistics,” a source from EAGLE told TOI.The accused in the recent drug bust were found in possession of 10 vehicles, including some registered to a fake address in Tukkuguda (in the outskirts of Hyderabad). Seven vehicles were used for transporting chemicals between various states while three were for their personal use. A private travels company, which helped the accused in transporting drugs to Rajasthan, also came under police radar.Precursors not monitoredIllegal synthetic drug manufacturers are easily sourcing precursors from various e-commerce websites. “Unlike abroad, the system in India is not foolproof. When a manufacturer sells a precursor to a buyer overseas, the transaction is regulated and recorded, making it accessible to law enforcement agencies. But in India, if a precursor is not regulated, agencies remain unaware even if the seller is operating legally. This allows such substances to fall into the wrong hands without detection,” said an investigator.In the recent case, a manufacturer in Mumbai delivered the drug to an intermediary who marketed the precursor.“They uploaded the details on an e-commerce platform. The accused then contacted the intermediary, who is not under the supervision of any agency. The precursors were purchased in the name of a defunct chemical company in Bengaluru. However, instead of collecting the consignment at the company’s registered address, the accused used a fake address and collected it elsewhere,” the police official added.Using these precursors, the accused transported them to Shadnagar and Agra in Uttar Pradesh, where they carried out chemical processes to manufacture banned synthetic drugs.
