Telangana excise dept arrests four linked to Rs 22 lakh drug racket bust in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: The Telangana Excise department on Tuesday arrested four more persons in the drug racket busted two days back and seized LSD, a narcotic generally sold in rave parties, from them. The department had busted the drug peddling racket on Sunday and arrested three persons. On Tuesday, four more peddlers have been arrested, Excise Enforcement director Akun Sabharwal told PTI. The LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide, is generally sold in rave parties in tablets or liquid form. It is known to be one of the most potent ‘mood-changing’ chemicals. The MDMA, or methylenedioxymethamphetamine, commonly known as ’ecstasy’, is used as a recreational drug, an Excise official said. [caption id=“attachment_3489223” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] “Nearly 100 units of LSD were seized from the four persons,” the official said. The department had on Monday set up a two-member Special Investigation Team to probe the drug racket. The Excise officials had conducted raids across Hyderabad and Secunderabad on Sunday and seized 700 ‘squares’ of LSD, each costing Rs 3,000 and worth Rs 21 lakh in total, and 35 grams of MDMA worth Rs 1.4 lakh. Three alleged drug peddlers were then arrested. Among their customers were a film producer and senior officials of multinational companies and employees of IT firms in Cyberabad, besides students of different educational institutions, including schools and colleges, Sabharwal earlier said.