Bengaluru: In a significant crackdown over the past 15 days, the Bengaluru city police have arrested seven drug peddlers across 12 police station jurisdictions, seizing contraband valued at Rs 2.9 crore.
The haul includes heroin, MDMA crystals, ecstasy pills, LSD strips, hydroganja and ganja. These arrests and seizures were part of a joint operation by the city police and the Central Crime Branch (CCB), as part of an ongoing anti-drug campaign.
On August 26, acting on a tip-off, the police arrested Taariq Aziz in Yeshwantpur and seized 84 grams of heroin worth Rs 75 lakh. Aziz allegedly sourced the drugs from a contact named Ikram, who was later arrested.
Four days later, on August 30, police arrested Rose, a foreign national, for allegedly peddling MDMA crystals. Rose, who had entered Bengaluru on a business visa in 2019, had been arrested in 2023 by the KG Nagar police.
In another operation, Shijin, a Kerala native, was arrested on September 2 for attempting to smuggle hydroganja from Thailand via India Post. Police seized 1.4 kg of hydroganja worth Rs 50 lakh.
Over the past six months, the Bengaluru police have booked several cases of hydroganja smuggling from Thailand and the Netherlands, with many arrests taking place at post offices upon the parcels’ arrival.
In nine other cases, three people — Karim Baig, Abhishek Gowda and Rounak Gupta — were arrested for drug-related offenses.
All cases have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
Published 10 September 2024, 18:42 IST