Telangana assembly election: Poll checks choke drug and liqour routes | India News

Smugglers are charting unknown routes to hoodwink officials in poll-bound Telangana in a cross-border game of trafficking drugs and liquor
The law enforcement crackdown due to election has revealed the multiple routes of cross-border drug and liquor smuggling in Telangana. ‘Desi daaru’ (country liquor) from Maharashtra, non-duty paid liquor from Karnataka, ganja from Andhra-Odisha border, cocaine and other narcotics from Goa are among the key routes for traffickers who are now adopting new methods to bypass intensified checking.
Following directions of the Election Commission of India (ECI), excise authorities have got a free hand to crack down on the smuggling network.
“Usually, check posts are on national highways and state highways. Smugglers are now avoiding these check posts and taking municipal and village roads. We have sensitised the neighbouring state enforcement agencies on the need for mobile patrolling on two-wheelers and four-wheelers on these roads to choke smuggling routes,” excise joint commissioner (enforcement) SY Qureshi told TOI.

Telangana excise authorities have identified 72 interstate roads connecting Adilabad, Nirmal, Mancherial, Asifabad, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Sangareddy, Vikarabad, Narayanpet and Gadwal in Telangana with Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. So far, liquor worth Rs 27 crore and narcotics valued at Rs 2.7 crore have been seized by excise officials.
Most seizures were in districts bordering neighbouring states. The highest seizure was in Suryapet (Rs 2.5 crore), followed by Medchal (Rs 2.3 crore), Khammam (Rs 1.5 crore), Malkajgiri (Rs 1.4 crore), Mahabubabad (Rs 1.3 crore). Along with these, Hyderabad, Warangal, Saroornagar, Kamareddy and Nirmal made up the top 10 districts.

Qureshi said, “Drugs and liquor coming from Goa via land have to cross entire Karnataka. In the last month, Karnataka has seized three trucks of non-duty paid liquor from Goa to Telangana which were destined for AP, particularly Guntur, Krishna, East and West Godavari districts. Consignments from Goa via Karnataka to north and south Andhra move through Telangana, whereas contraband to Rayalaseema do not touch Telangana.”
“Cheap ‘desi daru’ of multiple flavours is coming from Maharashtra to Adilabad, Nizamabad, Mancherial, Asifabad and Nirmal districts. Toddy adulterants such as diazepam come from Pune. Ganja from AOB goes to Mumbai and Pune on trains such as Konark Express and land route via Kothagudem. As there is hectic frisking on the road, they have taken the train route. Recently, ganja was seized in Nampally, Lingampally, Khammam, and Secunderabad stations,” Qureshi said.
The excise department has also written to officials in Goa to keep tabs at airports and other routes to check drug flow