Chennai woman, 25, takes over dad's drug racket; arrested by city police

CHENNAI: A young, Chennai-based woman, who took over her father's drug trafficking operations after his arrest three years ago and even graduated to more lucrative synthetic drugs, was nabbed after four people caught with narcotics told the police that they were smuggling it for her.

During a vehicle check at Mannadi on Wednesday, the Esplanade police stopped a group of four men riding two bikes. When the police checked them, they found that the men were carrying seven grams of methamphetamine.

The arrested men, identified as V Dinesh Pratap (23) of Kodungaiyur, S Santhosh (18) of Tondiarpet, M Praveen (20) of Puzhal, and K Tejesh (18) of Washermenpet, were immediately arrested.

When questioned, they allegedly said they were working for Fathima Moufiya of Manali.

The police said Fathima’s father Shahul Hameed was running the drug network. However, he was convicted in a ganja smuggling case three years ago. Not one to ignore the family business, Fathima reportedly took over the operations along with the people who were working under Shahul.

Based on the information they gave, the police then traced and arrested Fathima.

According to officials, the narcotics network primarily concentrated on methamphetamine, and used trains to ferry the drug. The group stayed clear of the police radar by interacting with customers only through safe channels.

The network used youngsters to smuggle the drug from north India, officials added.