How WhatsApp is helping drug peddlers sell narcotics that look like toffee in Hyderabad

In the third big drugs haul, the Hyderabad police arrested four people

Encryption on WhatsApp is making the mass messaging app the most preferred by drug peddlers in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad police recently bust yet another narcotics racket and arrested four people. What was observed prominently was how international numbers were being used by peddlers on WhatsApp for one purpose alone, buying and selling of narcotics.

The Hyderabad police seized drugs that looked like toffee in their recent crackdown on narcotics. Four people were arrested out of which two were engineering dropouts while another was a close friend of Calvin Mascarenhas, the kingpin of Hyderabad's massive drug racket that involved school students and film stars.

How WhatsApp aided peddling

The police on Monday arrested one Nigerian national, Ajah Gabriel Ogbonna and three Indians for possessing narcotics worth Rs 10 lakh. Most of them were shaped like toffees and were meant to be shipped to a rave in Goa on Independence day.
Those arrested were inter-state suppliers who handled narcotics and their transportation to Telangana and Goa. Navyanth who had fled to Goa after the first major drug haul was arrested this time around.

Navyanth worked only on WhatsApp. The arrested accused used multiple international numbers but never made a single call using them. The purpose of the numbers was only WhatsApp usage. Orders for drugs, description, quantity were all discussed through the mass messaging app. Purchase and sale were also made through the platform. Once an order was placed, narcotics would be sent via post or courier to the client. Money would be paid via credit cards.

The accused procured narcotics from foreign websites and would receive the consignment within 15 days. Narcotics like cocaine, amphetamine pills, heroin, MDMA, LSDs were sent via posts. Officials said that using the app ensured anonymity for the peddlers. The contacts worked in a chain arrangement. One client that the peddler knows would introduce another and so on.

Despite being a closed community, the police was able to breach it thanks to an insider. Gabriel who was touted to be the kingpin of the racket had fled from the city after the first drug bust. He was arrested after police received information about him visiting his friend in the city. The police trapped the peddler using his friend.

OneIndia News