Unprecedented: Bengaluru CCB freezes bank accounts of foreign drug peddler

Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) has frozen the ill-gotten gains of a foreign drug peddler, marking the first such instance in India.

Leveraging the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and Smugglers and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA), investigators successfully locked down the suspect's accounts.

In November 2023, Vidyaranyapura police arrested 38-year-old Peter Ikedi, a notorious drug peddler. The CCB probed the case and unearthed Rs 12.6 lakh in various bank accounts.

Ikedi, who arrived in India in 2018 on a medical visa, married a Manipuri woman in 2022. He opened two bank accounts in his wife’s name and five more accounts with fake documents. Ikedi used these seven accounts to transact the sums he obtained through drug sales.

Following interrogation, the police approached the bank to freeze the Rs 2.5 lakh in the two accounts in his wife’s name and Rs 4.9 lakh in other accounts.

Crackdown 

Meanwhile, the Bengaluru city police remain vigilant in their pursuit of eradicating illegal drugs.

From January 1 to 10, 2024, they have confiscated contraband worth Rs 1.6 crore across various police stations, including Girinagar, Madiwala, Chikkajala, RT Nagar, and Baiyappanahalli. Five cases have been registered, and seven people, including two foreign nationals, have been apprehended.