Drugs that were seized by the Bengaluru police in two separate cases.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru police have busted a major drug racket ahead of the New Year celebrations, seizing narcotics worth Rs 6.25 crore in two separate cases.
In the first case, three people, including a drug peddler from Kerala, were arrested by the Govindapura police when they were entering the city from Odisha in a car with 318 kg of ganja worth Rs 3 crore.
The suspects are Achu Santhosh, 28, from Athirampuzha in Kerala’s Kottayam; Zameer Khan, 29 and his wife Reshma Zameer Khan, 28, from Jakkur in Bengaluru.
Police investigations revealed that Santhosh had 15 cases, including attempting to murder and drug peddling, registered in different police stations in Kerala. He was also booked under the stringent Goonda Act by the Ettumanoor police in 2019, 2021, and 2022.
Officials said Santhosh recently arrived in Bengaluru, befriended Khan, a car driver, and roped him in on his scheme to “expand his network in Karnataka through Bengaluru”. Khan, buoyed by the idea to make quick money, agreed and included his wife in the crimes.
Santhosh took Khan to Odisha and they returned to Bengaluru in Khan’s Maruti Suzuki Ertiga with the contraband, while Reshma waited at their meeting point.
The car was intercepted by the police near Kaifa Masjid in HBR Layout on Thursday, as per the FIR. The three were placed under arrest. The police also recovered the drugs and three mobile phones. On Friday, they were remanded in judicial custody by a local court.
Nigerians jailed
In the second case, Central Crime Branch (CCB) officials arrested Michael Iwgbare, 35, and Agwu Ezekiel, 32 — both from Nigeria — on charges of peddling MDMA, cocaine, and Ecstasy pills worth Rs 3 crore.
Officials said the two were staying at a rented house in Hesaraghatta. Crime branch officials raided the house on Wednesday and arrested the two. They also recovered 1.520 kg of MDMA crystals, 202 grams of cocaine, 23 Ecstasy pills, and two mobile phones from the suspects.
Investigations revealed that the two entered India five years ago on a medical visa and continued to stay in Bengaluru illegally. They procured the drugs from their contacts in Mumbai and Delhi, the police said, adding that the two also had past cases related to drug smuggling registered in Hyderabad.