Women roped in to hoodwink cops

● ONE SUCH agent was caught by the Special Operations Teams of Rachakonda, who was caught smuggling 20 kilos of marijuana.

Interstate smugglers are adopting a new modus operandi to hoodwink cops by hiring a woman in her mid-20s, who is then dressed to “look rich” after which she is given baggage filled with drugs to pass unnoticed through security and police checks. One such agent was caught by the Special Operations Teams of Rachakonda, who was caught smuggling 20 kilos of marijuana.

The Special Operations Teams of Malkajgiri Zone, Rachakonda police, along with Uppal team, nabbed an interstate drug peddler, Prameela Mugre, 29, a native of Mumbai, who was found transporting a consignment from Vizag to Mumbai when the police caught them.

“She has contacts of suppliers at the Vizag agency area, from whom she purchases the ganja for `5,000 per kilo and hands over the same to the men who hired her.

They then sell the same for `10,000 per kilo to customers in Mumbai. She flew down to Vizag two days back and was heading back to Mumbai via bus with the contraband when our teams caught her at Uppal crossroads. We found that she was carrying nine packets of dry marijuana, weighing about 2.25 kilos, packed in a brown paper cover,” said the Police Commissioner of Rachakonda, Mahesh Bhagwat.

This is a new modus operandi used by the interstate smugglers to hoodwink cops, sources from the SOT revealed. “They hire a young female, usually in her 20’s, and give her a makeover to ‘look rich’. She is then ordered to follow instructions and is given a mobile phone with contact information of suppliers.

The mule is then given flight tickets to fly out and collect the drug consignment and get back via road in luxury buses,” explained the official.