Telangana: Biggest drug bust

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence of Hyderabad zone (DRI) has alerted the state police to keep a tight vigil on the bordering areas of Telangana, especially the areas bordering Andhra Pradesh and Odisha because of the huge consignment of 2,998 kg of heroin worth Rs 9,000 crore that was seized from the Mundra port in Gujarat on Sunday.

A police officer on condition of anonymity said, "The DRI has informed the police department about a possibility of such heroin entering the State and has urged the department to enhance the vigil on the highway routes."

Since the drug was seized at Gujarat port there has been a lot of activity in the department. They have inputs that ganja and other drugs are supplied from the Agency areas of Visakhapatnam and Odisha to other States such as Maharashtra and Goa.

There is also a possibility that the kingpins in the drug trade might have set up their base in Hyderabad as well. "The police department is collecting data of Afghan students from the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) and if any Afghan student is found to be suspicious then he will be picked up for questioning. So far nobody has been picked up, but the department has enhanced the security along with the DRI officials," added the officer. The consignment that was seized in the Mundra port originated from Afghanistan and it was shipped to Gujarat on September 13-14 via Iran's Bandar Abbas Port. The heroin was hidden inside the containers of semi-processed Afghan talc which was imported by a firm based in Andhra Pradesh. A Chennai-based couple has been arrested and several Afghan nationals from the Delhi-National Capital Region have been detained by agencies and are being interrogated, said an official.