Man arrested; 750 grams of methaqualone, being sold at Rs. 5,000 a gram, seized

The arrest of an alleged drug peddler in the city has brought to light the availability and consumption of methaqualone, a popular recreational drug in the West, in the city.

The drug was being sold at a whopping Rs. 5,000 a gram.

Sleuths of the Narcotics Wing of the Central Crime Branch, who arrested Purushotham (36) from Rajarajeshwarinagar, stumbled upon 750 grams of methaqualone recently.

Siddalingaiah, Assistant Commissioner of Police, said methaqualone, which is highly sedative, costs so much because of its limited availability. While a little opium was found with Purushotham, it was only after detailed questioning that the CCB retrieved the methaqualone from his residence.

Purushotham is said to have procured the drug from one Muthu in Tamil Nadu.

“Purushotham is part of an inter-State drug racket,” a senior police officer said, and added that the drug, popular in the United Kingdom, the United States, and South Africa, is smuggled into India via the Indo-Pak border near Rajasthan.

Mr. Siddalingaiah said Purushotham had confessed to have supplied methaqualone to some well-to-do clientele in the city. “We are trying to track down Muthu as well as the customers to expose the drug racket thriving in the city,” he said.