In Telangana, illicit business behind an ordinary facade

Nothing about the road outside Medha School in Bowenpally suggests that the place should be remembered as anything more than the daily school bustle. Located on the northwestern tip of Secunderabad, the hotel is narrow, noisy and rather ordinary. Autorickshaws idle impatiently in the morning, vendors selling stationery and snacks stand near the gate, and parents linger long enough to ensure their children disappear safely within the campus. The schoolhouse itself rises without drama, a functional concrete structure that fits seamlessly into a neighborhood shaped by small businesses, rental homes and constant foot traffic. Nothing about this suggests privacy. And researchers now believe that’s exactly the point.

For nearly nine months, while classes were being held for grades 1 to 10, parts of the same building were being used to manufacture alprazolam, a psychotropic drug that fuels addiction far beyond the streets of Bowenpally. The facade finally collapsed on September 13 last year, when officers of Telangana’s Anti-Drug Elite Action Group (EAGLE) raided the school premises and uncovered a secret drug lab operating inside the school.

Inside, police seized 3.4 kg of finished alprazolam, 4.3 kg of incomplete product and Rs 21 lakh in cash. Investigators say the money reflected was from just two days of sales. The accused was identified as Malela Jaya Prakash Goud (39), a resident of Old Bowenpally and principal of Medha School. According to investigators, Goud had been running the operation for months, deliberately using the school as a shield against scrutiny.

Officers said the building was meticulously sectioned off to perpetuate deception. In the basement, there were classrooms where children sat on benches and read lessons. There was a bank on the ground floor, providing another layer of legitimacy and a stable public presence. Part of the first floor was also used for teaching. However, the rear part of the structure remained under Goud’s exclusive control. “This is where the pharmaceutical laboratory was set up. The second floor, which previously served as a gym, remained locked and largely off-limits,” an officer said.

This physical separation, he says, allows the operation to be conducted without alarm. “Schools generally have limited space. Locked rooms raise no questions. He used this to his advantage,” the officer adds.

A middle-aged shopkeeper selling notebooks, pens and school bags across the road is leaning on his stall, still trying to digest what’s happening. He had been there for over a decade, watching a group of children grow in stature and progress. “Sometimes we saw boxes coming in and out,” he says, lowering his voice despite the constant noise on the street. “But every school has the equipment: furniture, exam papers, computers. Who would think of drugs?”

He remembers delivery vehicles arriving at odd hours, sometimes late in the evening. “They weren’t secret. That’s what fooled everyone. If someone was hiding something, they acted nervous. Everything seemed normal here. Too normal.”

One parent who lives two lanes away says the revelation disturbed her in ways she has a hard time expressing. “You leave your child at the door and assume that everything is under control inside. Your worries end in the lessons. You can’t even imagine the chemicals and drugs,” he says, requesting anonymity.

Investigators said Goud supplied alprazolam to known contacts in Boothpur in Mahabubnagar district. They found that his background was far from educational. He had earlier run a sweet shop in Mahabubnagar and had paid ₹2 lakh to one Guruva Reddy to obtain the production formula. Employees helped run the operation and police identified several chemical suppliers linked to the racket.

As the investigation has expanded, officers said 35 defendants linked to the case have been identified and seven people have been arrested so far. Many approached the courts seeking bail and anticipatory bail. Telangana’s EAGLE Power opposes these demands, citing the trade amount involved.

“Under Section 36A(4) of the NDPS Act, bail cannot be granted for at least 180 days in such cases; if investigation is ongoing, this period can be extended for another 180 days. The case is still under investigation and more arrests are likely,” says Sandeep Shandilya, director, EAGLE-Telangana.

For residents living around Medha School, the aftermath of the incident was disturbing to say the least. The door still opens every morning, but conversations last longer than before. Parents now look at the building differently. Familiarity, once reassuring, now feels deceptive.

In 2025, EAGLE Force, formerly Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau, recorded its most aggressive year of enforcement since its inception, targeting both street-level supply chains and organized interstate and international drug networks. Operations spread across Telangana and multiple states; It involved coordinated actions with central institutions, police forces and financial intelligence units.

Across Telangana, 2,542 NDPS cases involving 8,322 accused were registered till November 30 last year. Drugs worth ₹ 172.93 crore were seized during inter-state operations, including consignments that were intercepted and handed over to institutions in Goa, Maharashtra, Delhi and Ranchi.

The average number of defendants per case was just over three; This pointed to a trend towards dismantling distribution networks rather than making individual arrests.

An industrial belt offering hype

Just a few days later, another discovery in Cherlapalli, about 14 kilometers north of Bowenpally, surprised local law enforcement. They realized that Hyderabad’s drug trade was not hiding in abandoned buildings or dark alleys; It thrived in places designed to appear legitimate.

The Cherlapalli industrial area spreads wide and dusty along the eastern border of the city; a dense patchwork of warehouses, chemical units and shipping offices stitched together by narrow lanes and routines. It is a region built on movement. Tankers whiz by carrying liquids that few people can pronounce. Workers clock in and out at irregular hours. Activity rarely pauses long enough to attract attention.

Vagdevi Laboratories fits right into this landscape. From the outside, it looked no different from the neighboring units. Its walls were plain and its signs were modest. Trucks were coming in and out. Workers arrived with lunch boxes slung over their shoulders. From the outside, this was a working chemical factory.

At a small counter a few meters away, a man in his mid-50s pours countless cups of tea every day. He knows the rhythms of the region intimately. “This place never sleeps,” he says, wiping his hands on a cloth. “Some factories operate day and night. So when vehicles leave at odd hours, no one notices.”

Shipments from Vagdevi Laboratories appear to be routine, he says. “Tankers, cartons, chemicals… This is Cherlapalli. This is normal.” What caught his eye for a moment were cars. “You see luxury cars coming and going quickly; not what you’d expect for a small unit. But even then you think the owner is rich.”

Investigators allege that behind these walls he operated a large-scale mephedrone production unit that had been quietly operating for years. The case came to light far away from Cherlapalli.

Bus stop to global supply pipeline disrupted

Nearly a month before the raid, on August 8, the Maharashtra police arrested 23-year-old Fatima Murad Shaikh, alias Mullah, from Kashimira bus stand on Mira Road in Thane district. He was found with 178 grams of mephedrone and ₹23.97 lakh in cash. During interrogation, he told investigators that his source was in Telangana.

This revelation triggered a chain of events that brought the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar Crime Branch to Hyderabad. Officers arrived quietly, put Vagdevi Laboratories under surveillance and began monitoring the models. Their suspicions were confirmed when they stormed the building on September 5.

Inside the unit, police seized approximately 5.8 kilograms of finished mephedrone, 35,500 liters of precursor chemicals, 950 kilograms of chemical powder and specialized production equipment. An officer who attended the probe said the volume of precursor alone could produce about 6,000 kilograms of mephedrone. With an estimated international market price of ₹ 20,000 per gram, the value of potential production was approximately ₹ 12,000 crore.

The prime accused, Srinivas Vijay Voleti (34), owner of Vagdevi Laboratories Pvt Ltd, was detained along with Tanaji, a chemical analyst of the firm. During interrogation, Voleti allegedly admitted that he had been manufacturing and selling mephedrone since 2020, supplying it to markets in cities like Mumbai and buyers in Dubai and parts of Europe. Officers described him as tech-savvy and extremely cautious, avoiding mainstream communications platforms and relying instead on lesser-known apps.

Laboratory analysis conducted in Mumbai confirmed that the seized substance was a scheduled chemical. Investigators say synthetic drug manufacturers in southern India are increasingly turning to compounds such as 3-Chloromethcathinone (3 CMC), showing how quickly these networks adapt to enforcement pressure. Agencies including the Narcotics Control Bureau, air cargo operators and international counterparts have been alerted as police work to track down overseas buyers.

The Cherlapalli investigation also intersected with the life and death of history writer Azim Abu Salem Khan (51), who was wanted in several narcotics cases. Khan was tracked to a flat in Pune’s Kondhwa area in October. When officers tried to arrest him, he allegedly resisted, bit an officer and collapsed within minutes. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. Post-mortem examination later indicated head injuries and coronary atherosclerosis and the State CID took over the catheter as per protocol. Police said Khan had been a drug addict for over a decade and had a heart disease for several years.

Investigators allege Khan was a key link in a larger smuggling network that linked production units, couriers and money handlers. His name also surfaced in parallel financial investigations. In November, during an operation in Goa, EAGLE Force busted a Nigerian cartel, seizing shipments worth ₹2.85 million and uncovering a hawala network involving transactions linked to ₹65 lakh. Raids in multiple states led to the arrest of 20 hawala operators and seizure of ₹3.08 crore. Police said drug proceeds were diverted abroad through the purchase of goods sent through cargo services.

At the end of the investigation, a senior officer sums up the problem clearly: “What makes cases like this so difficult is that at first glance nothing looks like a crime – a school, a factory, a business operating in plain sight. These are the fronts that hide in plain sight, and that’s what makes enforcement difficult. When everything seems routine, suspicion fades, intelligence dries up and the drugs trade has room to breathe. Pressuring such cases takes time, patience and often a bit of luck. By the time we see the façade, the Damage is already quite extensive.”

Officers say this sense of ordinary is the most effective camouflage. When drugs operate behind school bells and factory sirens, they become difficult to detect and their consequences extend far beyond the places that first appear untouched.