HYDERABAD: As the hullabaloo over the Tollywood connect to drug peddlers was beginning to fade, Rachakonda police on Monday arrested four drug traffickers in Hyderabad, and allegedly stumbled upon links to celebrities, whose names were cropping up in the Telangana Prohibition and Excise department’s investigation into drug trade in the city. After LB Nagar police busted a drug and flesh trade racket, Rachakonda sleuths say they focused on cracking down on the rest of the network.
On Monday they arrested Nigerian national Ajah Gabriel (26), Nooka Navyanth (23), associate of alleged drug peddler Calvin Mascarenhas, Ankith Pandey (28) and B Ghanath Kumar Reddy (24) in Hyderabad on charges of peddling drugs. As many as 450 amphetamine pills, 45 grams of MDMA, 60 LSD blots, 450 Ecstasy pills, 5 gram of cocaine, 60 gram of ganja were among drugs seized from their possession. Another accused Pavan Kumar Reddy is absconding. Gabriel was produced before a court for judicial remand.
Police said Gabriel had been living in Hyderabad from 2014 when he joined Nizam college. He later dropped out. “Gabriel, along with other Nigerian nationals, Cosmas, John, Henry and Emeka, was peddling drugs from Goa, Mumbai and Pune. In March, he was arrested with 20 gms of cocaine but got bail,” police said. Gabriel allegedly acted as an agent for Cosmas, who was arrested. Police claim he collected and delivered drugs. “His customers are elite society people. Learning of the arrest of his countrymen by LB Nagar police, Gabriel fled to Bengaluru and then to New Delhi and was nabbed when he came to the city to meet his girlfriend,” said Rachakonda commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat at a press conference.
POLICE said his friend Pandey, a city Disco Jockey and HR consultant would order drugs on WhatsApp. “They used international mobile numbers. Ankith would place orders for cocaine, heroin and LSD. Gabriel and Navyanth would procure them from Delhi, Mumbai and Goa,” Bhagwat said.
One Pavan Kumar Reddy, an event manager, is also allegedly involved in drug trafficking. “Pavan has contacts with film personalities, celebrities and junior artists whose names cropped up in the drug investigation,” said Bhagwat, adding the police did not want to create “hype” by disclosing names of celebrities. “Our focus is on the drug peddlers,” he said.
After Mascarenhas was arrested by Excise department, Navyanth, an engineering dropout from Karimnagar, disappeared. Cops said he’d rented a room on Anjuna beach in Goa. “Hundreds of men and women are customers. Navyanth accepted money only on PayTm. He earned lakhs selling drugs. He wanted to make money at the Freedom Blast festival in Goa, but was arrested,” police added.
Through Navyanth, police said, Ghanath, an engineering dropout and businessman from Malaysian Township, came in contact with drug consumers. “Navyanth advised Ghanath to invest win purchase and sale of drugs. The duo was known for selling drugs in pubs at Banjara Hills, Jubilee hills and Madhapur,” said police. When police went to his home, his father, a reputed businessman, reportedly told them of his son’s habits and asked them to teach him a lesson.