HYDERABAD: In a major coordinated crackdown aligned with the central government’s Nasha Mukt Bharat campaign, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) launched simultaneous search operations across 30 locations in South India as part of a sweeping money-laundering investigation. Targeting multiple narcotics trafficking networks with cross-border linkages, federal sleuths carried out raids spanning key hubs in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala. The multi-state operation stems from at least eight predicate first information reports (FIRs) and charge sheets previously filed by state police forces and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). In addition to investigating illicit distribution operations, officials are tracking trade-based money laundering, hawala channels, and illegal real estate investments funded by drug proceeds.
A major focal point of the operation centered on Hyderabad, where federal agents conducted searches at premises linked to notorious cannabis kingpin Kalapathi Neetu Bai—popularly known as “Rethubai” or the “Ganja Queen”—and her associates. The searches targeted her primary base in Nanakramguda’s Lodha Basti, alongside other locations in Serilingampally and Ranga Reddy district. Enforcement agencies suspect Neetu Bai of running a widespread, family-operated retail syndicate that procured bulk cannabis at low prices from regions like Odisha, Araku, and Dhoolpet, repacked it into smaller sachets, and distributed it across the city to a customer base including IT employees and college students. Though Neetu Bai remains absconding across multiple police cases, today’s probes specifically targeted her family’s immovable properties, bank records, and financial networks to dismantle the financial infrastructure supporting the syndicate.
Beyond Telangana, the ED’s operation extended to several strategic locations across three other southern states to disrupt broader drug trafficking operations. In Tamil Nadu, sleuths searched premises across Chennai, Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Nagapattinam, and Velankanni, targeting smuggling networks linked to foreign national syndicates and illegal methamphetamine trafficking to Sri Lanka. Meanwhile, operations in Karnataka covered premises in Kolar, Malur, and Hoskote, while raids in Kerala spanned Kozhikode, Kannur, Malappuram, and Thrissur. Agency officials emphasized that by targeting the financial engines behind these illicit supply chains, the operation aims to seize crime proceeds, freeze linked assets, and neutralize regional narcotics syndicates.
