HYDERABAD: In one of the biggest drug hauls in recent months, the state anti-narcotics wing, Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE), raided a flat in Jeedimetla and arrested four persons involved in manufacturing ephedrine. Officials seized 220 kg of the drug, valued at around Rs 10 crore in the domestic market and Rs 72 crore internationally. The unit where the drug was produced, PNM Life Sciences at IDA Bollaram, has also been sealed.
The accused have been identified as Vastavayi Shiva Ramakrishna Parama Varma (52), Dangeti Anil (31), Musini Dorababu (29) and Maddu Venkata Krishna Rao (45). Another person, M Prasad (49), is absconding. All are natives of different districts in Andhra Pradesh.
According to EAGLE officials, Varma, who has a background in pharmacy, earlier worked as a quality chemist and analyst in several pharmaceutical firms. After a stint in real estate, he shifted to aquaculture but suffered losses. He was arrested twice by the NCB in Bengaluru and Hyderabad in 2017 and 2019 for possession of 250 kg of amphetamine and 10 kg of alprazolam, respectively.
Anil, who holds a vocational diploma in automobile engineering, moved to Hyderabad in 2014 and worked in several chemical firms. Dorababu, educated up to Class 7, migrated to Hyderabad in 2018 and now works as an operator at Vignasai Laboratories. Venkata Krishna, an ITI-trained welder, co-founded Sai Techno Engineers with his brother Prasad in 2011, manufacturing chemical equipment. In 2019, they jointly established PNM Life Sciences, which carried out chemical job work for other firms.
Officials said that in December 2024, Varma visited PNM Life Sciences with a friend and met Anil. The two met again several times, where Varma proposed manufacturing ephedrine in exchange for a hefty payment. Anil discussed the plan with Venkata Krishna and Prasad, who agreed and asked him to proceed.
Varma later provided the formula for producing ephedrine, supplied raw materials and transferred Rs 8 lakh to Anil to procure additional inputs. Following the instructions, Anil completed the process and produced about 220 kg of ephedrine. The contraband was then stored in Varma’s flat in Jeedimetla.
The accused roped in Anil’s friend, Dorababu, to help find buyers. Meanwhile, EAGLE, which had been quietly monitoring past drug offenders, grew suspicious of Varma’s activities and the factories he visited. Surveillance led to Thursday’s raid, during which all four were arrested.
