The police probing the ephedrine drug racket busted by the Customs and Central Excise Department, Bengaluru, suspect that the accused had come from Chennai to book the parcel from Vijayawada.
The accused had reportedly called the courier service boy, G. Teja, and tracked the movement of the consignment for a few days after booking it.
However, the accused switched off his mobile phone after Teja was arrested by the Customs officials at the Bengaluru airport on April 30, an investigation officer said.
The accused had reportedly booked 4.50 kg of ephedrine powder at a private courier company from Vijayawada to Australia on January 31, 2022.
Teja had to book the consignment by submitting his Aadhaar card as proof after the accused, who called himself Gopi Sai, said his Aadhaar card was damaged and the number on it was not clear.
“We have the photograph of the person who visited Vijayawada and booked the parcel through the courier company. The police are probing whether the accused stayed at any place and booked consignments from Vijayawada earlier,” a senior police officer said.
The police suspect that a friend or room mate of Kondaveeti Gopi Sai, an engineering graduate of Sattenapalli whom they had questioned earlier, might have used his name to book the parcel.
“Gopi Sai had stayed in Chennai till September 2021, and completed his engineering course. The accused had brought the drug powder from Chennai to Vijayawada. We are trying to find out why he carried the parcel from Tamil Nadu to Andhra Pradesh and booked it in Vijayawada,” Police Commissioner Kanthi Rana Tata said.
“We are probing the case with the help of the Chennai police. Efforts are on to trace the racketeer who had travelled to Vijayawada and booked the parcel. Investigation officers are also trying to trace the caller who was in touch with Teja over the phone before he was arrested,” Mr. Kanthi Rana told The Hindu.
