8 hours ago
1
Nearly 300 carriers, 405 formation bookings, much than ₹1 crore spent connected aerial travel, cannabis farms successful Thailand, hawala wealth trails spanning countries, and an alleged ₹30 crore program to physique a Pattaya-style nightclub successful Hyderabad’s upscale Kokapet. These are among the findings that person emerged from the Telangana’s EAGLE Force probe into what constabulary picture arsenic a sprawling planetary hydroponic cannabis smuggling syndicate operating crossed India and Thailand.
Director of the unit Sandeep Shandilya said that they person identified astir 40 persons linked to the web and arrested respective accused successful transportation with the case. According to him, the syndicate was allegedly headed by Mumbai-based brothers Hemang Pramod Keluskar and Sudhanshu Pramod Keluskar, who established cannabis cultivation and procurement links successful Thailand successful 2023 earlier allegedly creating a immense organisation web crossed Telangana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and different States.
The probe began aft 1 Mohsin Bahadurbhai Sodha was intercepted astatine Rajiv Gandhi International Airport successful Hyderabad, connected April 7, 2026, with 13.2 kg of hydroponic cannabis. Subsequent surveillance by EAGLE Force led to the apprehension of Prajapti Harshad Mansukhbhai and Sandeep Jaiprakash Vaswani alias Rahul Jain adjacent BHEL Junction, Ramachandrapuram, wherever 12.739 kg of hydroponic cannabis was seized.
Police said the syndicate allegedly recruited carriers from antithetic States, mostly from Gujarat and Telangana, flew them to Thailand. They past arranged their accommodation successful Pattaya and handed them luggage containing hydroponic cannabis earlier routing them backmost done airports successful Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Surat and Kolkata. Investigators alleged that the web deliberately divided consignments among aggregate couriers to debar attracting stricter provisions nether the NDPS Act.
According to investigators, the accused entered the cannabis cultivation concern successful Thailand nether the screen of ineligible medicinal and commercialized cultivation. The probe recovered that the radical had allegedly leased a cultivation enclosure susceptible of increasing 144 cannabis plants per rhythm nether a five-year agreement. Police assertion the syndicate subsequently utilized the nutrient to proviso premium-grade hydroponic cannabis, popularly known arsenic “OG weed”, to affluent customers, enactment circles and students successful Indian cities.
The probe besides revealed that the syndicate’s activities allegedly extended acold beyond cause trafficking. Sources said that profits generated from hydroponic cannabis income were routed done hawala channels to concern cultivation, logistics and aboriginal consignments. Investigators are besides examining links betwixt cardinal accused and organised transgression figures successful Mumbai, including references to gangsters that surfaced during questioning.
Evidence examined by the investigators allegedly showed transfers exceeding 56 lakh Thai Baht into accounts linked to cannabis cultivation businesses.
One of the much striking findings of the probe concerns Hyderabad. Investigators alleged that the accused planned to put betwixt ₹20 crore and ₹30 crore to found a nightclub successful an underconstruction promenade successful Kokapet modelled connected Pattaya’s Jalwa Club. Police said the accused had travelled to Hyderabad successful April 2026 and inspected onshore successful Kokapet for the projected task conscionable days earlier a large cannabis consignment was allegedly brought into the city.
The EAGLE Force said the probe remains nether mode to place further associates, hint absconding accused and found the afloat grade of what investigators judge was 1 of the country’s astir extended hydroponic cannabis trafficking networks.
