Hyderabad: In one of the biggest drug rackets uncovered by the Narcotics Control Bureau, wherein the accused are suspected to have links with South East Asian and Australian cartels, NCB sleuths found that the drug was being manufactured in Hyderabad for the past 5 years. The officials traced the manufacturing unit of Ketamine in the Nacharam industrial area and sealed it.
The drug racket was busted in a joint operation by the NCB teams of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana. About 26.75 kg of Ketamine was caught in Bengaluru between April 30 and May 2.
Sources said, Venkatesh, 36, a Bengaluru native, had been manufacturing Ketamine in a lab/unit in the Nacharam industrial area in Hyderabad and at his home in Kengeri in Bengaluru.
On the day of the raids in Bengaluru, the receiver of the drug, identified as Shivraj, 33, a Chennai native, was caught by the sleuths while in possession of the drug, while Venkatesh sped away in a car. However, he was traced to Yelahanka on May 1 and placed under arrest on May 2.
“Upon interrogation, Venkatesh revealed that he had been manufacturing the drug at his house in Kengeri. His house was then raided, and the drug was seized from the clandestine lab. Further, it was found that a similar manufacturing unit was being run in Hyderabad, which was thereafter traced and sealed,” said the NCB sleuths.
