Daijiworld Media Network – Hyderabad

Hyderabad, Sep 14: In a startling raid, the Telangana Police’s Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) uncovered a clandestine drug racket operating from the second floor of Medha School in Hyderabad and arrested three people, including the school’s director.

Police said Malela Jaya Prakash Goud, the director, had secretly converted restricted areas and classrooms into a full-fledged narcotics lab to manufacture Alprazolam, a banned sedative often mixed with toddy. Investigators found a chemistry lab fitted with eight reactors and dryers used for large-scale production.

Goud allegedly learned the process from an associate, Guruvareddy, and supplied the contraband to toddy depots in Mahabubnagar. During the raid, police seized over 7 kg of Alprazolam, Rs 21 lac in cash, raw chemicals and manufacturing equipment.

According to officials, the illegal operation had been running for nearly six months, with the lab functioning six days a week and deliveries arranged on Sundays. While regular school classes were held on the ground and first floors, the covert drug unit operated on the floor above.

Authorities have launched a detailed probe to trace the wider supply network and identify more suspects involved in the racket.