‘Drug chef’ Nigerian national lands in crime branch dragnet

The CCB officials seized methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a banned synthetic drug, weighing five kg and worth an estimated Rs 10 crore in the international market, from Chidubem's rented studio apartment in Aavalahalli’s Virgonagar.

Bengaluru: A pressure cooker, few vessels, a measuring bowl and a gas stove are the usual kitchen appliances used to rustle up a meal. But when chemicals like methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and acetone are used as key ingredients, the kitchen becomes a lab, dishing out a synthetic drug.

The city’s outskirts had one such kitchen-lab, where a Nigerian national had been donning the hat of a ‘drug chef’ and peddling his ‘dish’ to college students and IT employees, till the anti-narcotics wing of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) arrested him on November 5.

Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), a banned synthetic drug, weighing 5 kg and worth an estimated Rs 10 crore in the international market, was found in 40-year-old Benjamin Chidubem’s rented studio apartment in Avalahalli’s Virgonagar.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda said the suspect posed as a garments dealer. “Preliminary investigations revealed that he set up the makeshift lab in his rented house in Avalahalli, procured the raw materials and manufactured the narcotics substance,” Dayananda said. “He appears to be a main drug peddler in the city and supplied the contraband to other street peddlers, including those from Nigeria.”

“He told the officials that he procured the raw materials from Delhi. However, this will be probed further. We are yet to verify if he has prior cases or arrests.”

Illegal stay

Two CCB investigators told DH that Chidubem’s business visa, which is granted for three months, expired in 2021 and he moved to Bengaluru from New Delhi in March this year.

The investigators believe that Chidubem procured some of the common chemicals like hydrochloric acid and acetone, found in his house, locally.

Nigerian national Benjamin Chidubem.

“As he is currently in our custody, we are questioning him regarding the source of the raw materials,” an investigator said.

Students, IT employees were regular customers

During questioning, Chidubem revealed that his customers, including college students and IT employees, contacted him on the phone. Chidubem supplied them with the drugs on his scooter. He wanted to earn money in a short span, police said.

Chidubem has been booked under Sections 8(c) and 22(c) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, and Section 14 of the Foreigners Act.

He is in police custody for seven days, police said.

Materials seized  

Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM): 12.450 kg
Sodium hydroxide crystals: 5 kg
Hydrochloric acid: 5 litres
Acetone: 2.5 litres
Pressure cooker (5-litre capacity): 1
Gas stove: 1
Gas cylinder: 1
Mobile phone: 1
Digital weighing scale : 2
Scooter: 1