Hyderabad: How couriers and a Nigerian link exposed student drug trade at Mahindra University

Hyderabad: A courier parcel, a Nigerian contact and a trail of digital payments, that’s all it took for Telangana’s EAGLE (Elite Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement) to pull the thread on what turned out to be a full-fledged drug network inside Mahindra University.

After a week-long operation, four men were arrested, narcotics worth lakhs were seized, and nearly 50 students are now under the scanner.

The seizure

The EAGLE team seized 1.15 kg of ganja, 47 grams of OG weed, 28 zip pouches, a digital weighing machine and multiple smartphones. A case has been registered at Cyberabad Narcotics PS (Cr. No. 8/2025) under the NDPS Act.

A clue from another case

The breakthrough came while investigating the Malnadu Restaurant drug case.

Officers tracking suspicious parcels noticed that consignments booked through Rajesh Enterprises, a Sree Maruti Couriers franchise, were ending up in the hands of students.

One of the recipients was linked to Annanamaneni Surya, already facing drug charges. The consignments were traced back to Delhi, with a Nigerian national using Indian mobile numbers to mask his identity.

Digital payments made through UPI, PhonePe and ATM deposits confirmed that students were actively transacting for drugs.

The student connection

Two Mahindra University students, Bhaskar and Dinesh, soon emerged as the key link.

They had transferred money to a Nigerian identified as Nick and received parcels of MDMA pills. The pills were consumed with friends at pubs, revealing a synthetic drug angle alongside cannabis sales.

Smelling a bigger racket, EAGLE officers began quietly gathering intelligence around the campus. Security guards, hostel records and discreet interactions with students confirmed that some individuals had shifted out of hostels into rented flats, where they were running drug distribution rings.

The raid

On August 25, the surveillance culminated in a raid on a flat at Shivalayam Colony, Suraram, Jeedimetla. Inside, investigators found carefully concealed packets of narcotics, weighing machines, and multiple mobile phones used for UPI transactions.

Arrested identified

Nevelle Tongbram (21, Manipur): Student handler, procured OG weed from Delhi and stored consignments.

Ambati Ganesh (24, Jeedimetla): Local distributor, split consignments into 4-gram packets for sale.

Boosa Shiva Kumar (26, Jeedimetla): Supplier from Bidar, Karnataka, who maintained a steady flow of ganja.

Mohd. Ashar Jawed Khan (21, Delhi): Mahindra University student, main campus distributor, also sourced consignments from Gurugram.

Modus Operandi

The racket ran like a business. OG Weed and ganja were sent from Delhi and Bidar via courier companies like DTDC, India Post, Trackon and Maruthi Couriers. Parcels were disguised as everyday items.

Each ounce (28 grams) of OG Weed costs Rs 30,000 in Delhi and was broken down into grams and sold to students at Rs 2,500 per gram. MDMA pills sourced from Nigerians were routed through couriers and delivered discreetly.

Inside campus, trusted peers like Ashar took orders, delivered packets in hostels and collected payments digitally.

A larger problem

The bust has exposed not just a racket but a failure of checks.

Questions are being asked of university vigilance, parental supervision and courier companies. Officials warn that ganja is the gateway drug and peer pressure is turning students into both consumers and peddlers.

EAGLE officials point out that drug culture is seeping into several institutions, including Osmania University, CBIT, IIIT Basara, Symbiosis and Medicity Medical College.