By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Ever thought a drug racket could operate in plain sight through regular courier services? Well, on Saturday night one such racket being run from the US was busted by Cyberabad police. Two engineering college graduates were arrested and LSD worth `40,000 was seized.

With credible information that the drugs were being sent to Hyderabad from USA, Jeedimetla police apprehended two persons and seized a courier they had received. Jeedimetla inspector C Narasimha Reddy told Express that the police had specific information about the drug racket.

The police’s preliminary probe revealed that the accused, Ratnagiri and Kishore, completed a mechanical engineering course from a reputed Hyderabad college. According to police, during a visit to Goa, the duo experimented with drugs and took to consuming them regularly. Their needs were allegedly being met by a friend, Dundu Sai, pursuing an MS degree in the US. Sai is believed to have couriered the drugs to Ratnagiri, a resident of Kukatpally. Police learnt Sai had been sending drugs to other friends as well for some time now. These friends had been selling the drugs to students and others in Hyderabad.

“Sai was sending LSD to Hyderabad through courier. Yesterday (Saturday) night, at around 8 pm, on a specific information, Ratnagiri and Kishore were nabbed when they were leaving on a bike after collecting the courier. The courier parcel was checked and we found LSD in it,” said the inspector.

He added that the probe had revealed active involvement of another person named Karan. Karan was the usual recipient of the drugs and would sell them, but this time Ratnagiri picked up the drugs. Karan is absconding, and teams had been formed to nab him.

Ratnagiri had earlier been involved in a drugs case at Mahankali police station.

The accused reportedly confessed to have been selling a stamp of LSD for minimum `1,500. “Three stamps of LSDs, containing 24 pieces were present. They amount to a total of `40,000. Though the quantity of the drugs is very small, it is LSD and this is considered a severe offence according to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The duo has been sent to judicial remand,” the inspector said, adding that the investigation would continue.