HYDERABAD: Six drug peddlers, including a South African national and a Ghana native, were arrested by the
Task Force sleuths
near the
Jubilee Hills
checkpost on Monday, based on a tip-off. The officials
recovered 370gm of cocaine
from them.
The Task Force police said South African national Mandela James, Ghana national Drake Owen, movie artiste Abhishek, a resident of
Hi-Tec City
and his friends-office boy G Srinivasulu, driver JE Naveen Kumar and M Srinivas-were arrested. James, who was the alleged kingpin of the racket, had been staying in Mumbai since February 2016. After he met Drake, James decided to peddle drugs in India and activated his sources in Mumbai by contacting Africans residing there, said officers.
James and Drake would occasionally visit Hyderabad to supply cocaine to clients, including Abhishek and Srinivasulu. "In April 2016, Srinivasulu met James and Drake at a party in Mumbai and would buy cocaine from them. Abhishek would purchase 15-20gm of cocaine for his personal use and share it with his friends," Task Force officials said in a press note. Srinivasulu, over a period of time, too became a peddler. He used to purchase cocaine at 3,500/gram from James and sell it to locals at 4,000- 4,500/gram.
Abhishek and Srinivasulu were arrested by the SR Nagar police for a similar offence in 2012, said officers.