Hyderabad: Police personnel working on curbing the inflow of narcotics into the city are finding it tough to crack the new network of ‘drug mules’, regular citizens carrying the contraband for ‘trip money’. Officials said that these ‘mules’ earn around Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 per trip.
Officials from the Special Operations Teams (SOT) of Cyberabad said that the entry of mules from varied backgrounds has created a roadblock for cops to track down suppliers.
“Lorry drivers, private employees, drivers and other such individuals are keen on earning a fast buck. Earlier habitual criminals ran such trips and our informers kept track of such movements. Now, with a rise in such mules, we are facing trouble in tracking the packages,” said an official, requesting anonymity.
Explaining the generic chain in the drug business, DCP Radhakrishna Rao of the Commissioner’s Task Force, Hyderabad, said that the consumer stayed in touch with a local peddler, who dealt with the mediator from Mumbai, Goa or Odisha, who traded with the supplier.
“The consumer used to be the sixth step in this chain. Hence, the rate of a Rs 3,000 per kilo contraband fetches Rs 10,000 per kilo. The middlemen hike the rate to keep the chain functioning,” he explained.
With the strict crackdown against drug trade in Hyderabad and in Telangana, there were several cases involving consumers directly approaching sellers in Vizag agency area, Odisha border, Goa and Bengaluru.
“The demand is higher than ever in the city for marijuana, the most widely consumed narcotic. Consumers have now started approaching sellers directly and in some cases, also started selling in their local circles,” explained an official from the task force.
