A gang of five was arrested with 38 kg dry marijuana worth ₹10 lakh by the Hyderabad Central Crime Station (CCS), in coordination with the Gandhi Nagar police, on Friday.The arrested persons were identified as Rajaram Swami Kannu Padaiyachi, 78, a homestay operator from Thane in Maharashtra, Santosh Balaram Prajapathi, 65, a coolie from Mumbai, Vijayalaxmi Kaliyamurti Pellai, 66, from Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu, and two domestic workers, Silmina Kujur, 36, and Sheela Devi, 48, both residents of Andheri West in Mumbai. Kujur is a native of Simdega district in Jharkhand, while Devi is from East Singhbhum district.According to the police, the five were allegedly working as carriers for an unidentified source and were transporting marijuana from Araku in Visakhapatnam district to Mumbai through Hyderabad.The accused allegedly collected large quantities of marijuana from Araku, where it was packed in brown-coloured parcel covers. They then concealed the parcels in their regular travel bags and travelled by bus to Hyderabad. The police said the group would divide themselves and board different buses to avoid suspicion and detection.After reaching Hyderabad, they allegedly stayed for about a day at different lodges at a pre-planned location before boarding another bus to Mumbai. On reaching the city, they would allegedly deliver the parcels at designated locations as instructed by the unidentified source.The police said the source allegedly took advantage of the accused persons’ age and paid them a commission of about ₹10,000 to ₹12,000 for each delivery. The five also allegedly had previous criminal histories involving marijuana transportation.The police said further investigation was underway to identify the source person who allegedly arranged the procurement and transportation of the marijuana. Published - August 22, 2026 08:41 pm IST