The Halasuru police on Monday arrested a taxi driver for possession of MDMA, heroin and yaba tablets, which is a synthetic mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine. The drugs, worth ₹28 lakh, were concealed in a teddy bear.
According to the police, the accused, Zakir Khan, 38, hails from Assam. He moved to Bengaluru with his family five years ago.
“A drug addict-turned-peddler, he sourced drugs from his contacts in Assam and Bangladesh. Under the pretext of taking his family to their hometown once a month, he smuggled drugs into Bengaluru. He would conceal the contraband in soft toys and hand them over to his children to play, to avoid police checks,” said a senior police officer.
He was able to get past checkpoints in different States as no one suspected that drugs were concealed in the toys his children were playing with. “His wife and children were not aware of his drug peddling racket. He would sell the drugs to college students and working professionals,” the officer added.
Police were alerted about his illegal activities. Zakir was booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. Investigations are on to ascertain his network, said the police.
