VISAKHAPATNAM: The city police on Sunday busted a drug racket having links with Goa and seized 50 lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) blots, 4.4 grams of suspected MDMA powder, five cell phones and a car.
Five persons were arrested for trying to sell drugs to customers in Vizag as well as in neighbouring Odisha. Some of the customers were said to be procuring the drugs for use during Friendship Day celebrations on Sunday.
The main accused in the racket used to get drugs in exchange for ganja procured from agency areas in the combined Visakhapatnam district. They were reportedly using some dark websites to sell drugs through social media groups. Cryptocurrency and UPI were also being used for online payments.
Speaking to media persons, City Police Commissioner Ch Srikant said on credible information, the Anti-narcotic Cell of Special Enforcement Bureau (SEB) and IV Town police conducted a raid in the city and three members of the gang were arrested while they were trying to sell drugs. Based on the information given by them, two others were arrested.
The arrested were identified as Pangi Ravi Kumar of Butchirajupalem, Vasu Deva Katanya of Gopalapatnam, Malladi Mojesh of Seethampeta, Appikonda Yada Kishore of 104 Area, and Mare Sandeep of Marripalem. Another accused, Dileep, is yet to be arrested.
The commissioner said the prime accused, Pangi Ravi Kumar, who was working as a sales promoter in a private firm, was procuring ganja from one Dinesh and was supplying it to another person, Dileep, in Goa. Ravi Kumar was once arrested in Goa in a drug peddling case in 2021.
Dileep, who also hails from Vizag, in association with Ravi, was selling LSD blots to his friends. In March, Ravi brought six LSD blots during Holi. He then handed over cigarettes containing LSD to Dileep’s friends.
He said the city task force and fourth town police caught the gang members while they were trying to sell another 50 LSD blots and suspected MDMA powder for local consumption and also for drug users in Chitrakuta in Odisha on the occasion of friendship day on Sunday.
Oruganti Vasudeva was earlier involved in a rave party case in Arilova police station while Sandeep was arrested in a drugs case in Bengaluru.
Srikanth said last month, 61 LSD blots were seized in a raid. “We have arrested a fourth-year student of IIIT in Hyderabad. Another 11 students of Hyderabad were identified in the case and of them, four were drug peddlers. We have identified some others involved in peddling from across the country and efforts were being made to apprehend them,” the Commissioner said.
Stating that teenagers are getting addicted to drugs after consuming it for fun for the first time, he said some of them were using synthetic drugs. Those who are addicted are turning into drug peddlers to supply drugs to other consumers.
“We are maintaining a close watch on the rising drug menace among the youth in the city,” he said and appealed to the parents to keep a close watch on their children. “If any abnormality and signs of depression are observed, parents shall immediately take the children to professional counselling,” he said. Parents may also avail the facility of the city police counselling centre ‘Marpu, where drug addicts are being counselled.