The Hyderabad Narcotics Enforcement Wing (H-NEW) in a joint operation with the Masab Tank police arrested three MDMA peddlers and seized 11 gm of the synthetic drug, three mobile phones, a two-wheeler and a four-wheeler, all worth ₹4.65 lakh.
The arrested persons have been identified as Upputuri Kartheek alias Alex, 37, of Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, Chirumamilla Balaji, 32, a resident of Neredmet, and Tandra Deepak, 29, of Jeedimetla. Police said Kartheek acted as the main peddler while Balaji and Deepak acted as side peddlers.
According to Inspector S Bala Swamy of H-NEW, the arrest was made on December 12 following a tip-off. “Kartheek, unemployed after failed business ventures, began sourcing MDMA from Bengaluru through fugitive suppliers and repackaging it into one-gram sachets for sale in Hyderabad. Balaji allegedly bought the drug from him for resale, while Deepak, originally a consumer, later joined the chain as a sub-seller to sell the smuggled officer to known contacts.”
Officials said further investigations are underway to trace the supply network and identify other connections.
Published – 14 Dec 2025 19:01 IST
