In a dramatic crackdown, Telangana’s Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) detained 14 individuals, including IT professionals and a student, during a decoy operation in Gachibowli on July 12, targeting a ganja distribution network. Shockingly, a couple arrived with their four-year-old child to purchase cannabis, and another couple also tested positive for drug use, according to an EAGLE release.

The operation, led by Superintendent of Police Chennuri Roopesh, focused on a Maharashtra-based peddler, Sandeep, who evaded capture but left behind a phone revealing a database of over 100 regular clients. The suspect allegedly transported 5 kg of ganja, packaged into 100 sachets of 50 grams each, sold for Rs 3,000 apiece, targeting IT and private sector workers. Using the coded WhatsApp message “Bhai baccha aa gaya bhai,” he signaled drug availability.

Plainclothes EAGLE officers, positioned near an HDFC Bank branch, nabbed the 14 buyers within two hours. All tested positive for cannabis via on-the-spot urine tests and were sent to certified de-addiction centers for rehabilitation. The group included Naveen (31, online trader), Ayush (22, student), Nikhil (29, racing engineer), Sindura (26, architect), Hasan (34, property manager), Kranti (28, IT employee), and others aged 24-34 from diverse professions.

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EAGLE is now analyzing seized WhatsApp logs and digital evidence to dismantle the broader supply chain, with 86 other consumers urged to seek voluntary de-addiction. This marks EAGLE’s second major bust in a week, following the July 7 arrest of six, including restaurant owner Surya Annamaneni, in a transnational drug network involving cocaine and ecstasy.

The operation underscores the alarming spread of drug use in Hyderabad’s IT corridor, prompting EAGLE to plan further raids to curb narcotics in the region.

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