Hyderabad, February 17 Eight students were allegedly found to have pooled money to purchase drugs, and three of them involved in selling marijuana were arrested in the Warangal and Peddapalli districts, the EAGLE Force said on Tuesday.
The Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) Force, in a statement, said that the students had crowdfunded to buy and market drugs in order to earn easy money and satisfy their drug-related desires.
Following reliable information that marijuana was being transported from Odisha to Karimnagar and Hyderabad for sale, a special team intercepted and apprehended a BTech third-year student and an Intermediate second-year student, who were found transporting the contraband on a motorcycle via Warangal on February 13.
Further investigation led to the apprehension of another accused, also a student and owner of the motorcycle, at Godavarikhani in the Peddapalli district. A total of 36.8 kg of marijuana, worth Rs 18.4 lakh, was seized from the accused.
The accused had purchased marijuana after contacting a supplier in Odisha, and had pooled money from eight friends (students) to pay him, for both personal consumption and illegal sale.
The accused confessed that they had purchased marijuana at Rs 2,000 per kg from the Pasupulanka area of Odisha and were transporting it to Karimnagar and Hyderabad for illegal sale.
A case has been registered under relevant sections of the NDPS Act, 1985. Special teams have been formed to apprehend the remaining nine associates (six students and two suppliers) involved in the case, and further investigation is in progress, the EAGLE Force said.
This is the fourth time that the students have procured marijuana (between January 2023 and January this year).
"This gang has caused immense damage to the students and educational institutes, as they have slowly become suppliers and promoters of drugs to various schools and colleges in Karimnagar and Hyderabad. The Anti-Drug Committees (ADCs) working in these colleges also failed to alert the police. Neither the village elders nor the family noticed their children going astray. Nobody informed the EAGLE Force's toll-free number 1908," the statement further said.
This "lapse" allegedly enabled the continuation and expansion of illegal drug activities, adversely impacting several students, their families and educational institutions, the release added.
