A drug peddler, who smuggled in cocaine packed in an empty cool drink pack and managed to fly to Hyderabad, was caught by the police.

Forty grams of cocaine, worth over Rs 1.5 lakh, was seized from Shaik Jaweed (36), police said.

Jaweed runs a boutique in Mumbai and had come to Hyderabad to peddle drugs anticipating good demand for cocaine in view of the New Year celebrations.

His ingeniousness worked to the extent of getting the contraband out of the airport, but a Task Force team caught him near Panjagutta, based on a tip-off.

According to the Task Force DCP, Ch. Ramchander, investigations are on to find out how he managed to get the drug without being detected by sophisticated airport scanners. Police are also trying to find out his links in the city and foreign drug peddlers.

Inquiries revealed that he went to Kuwait in 2002 and worked as a data entry operator for six years.

He returned to Mumbai four years ago and started running a boutique at Bandra in Mumbai.

He and his friend Parvez of Dubai got addicted to drugs and established contacts with some drug peddlers.

On learning that there was good demand for cocaine in Hyderabad during the New Year celebrations, he came to Hyderabad and was planning to sell the drug at Rs.5,000 to Rs.8,000 per gram, officials explained.

“It's a serious crime. We will take stern action if anyone was found to be indulging in such practices during the New Year celebrations,” the DCP warned.