Three held on the charge of possession of narcotic substances

The city police, who have been carrying out a drive against substance abuse for the past two months, have arrested three men, including a software engineer, on the charge of possessing illegal drugs.

They have recovered 1.5 kg of cocaine, worth ₹1.2 crore, and around 2,000 ecstasy pills, worth about ₹30 lakh, from them.

The two main accused — Faith Chuks, 34, from Cape Town, South Africa, and Kante Henry, 24, from the Republic of Guinea — are allegedly the suppliers, while the third accused has been identified as Pratheek Shetty, who hails from Mangaluru.

He works in a Bengaluru firm as a software professional and allegedly acted as the delivery person for the supplies, said the police.

Chuks and Henry are enrolled in an MBA programme in a private college in the city and have student visas.

According to Police Commissioner T. Suneel Kumar, the accused were allegedly involved in supplying drugs at parties. “Shetty is employed with a respectable private firm and draws a salary of ₹60,000. He has no monetary pressures to be involved in this racket,” the Commissioner said.

The Banaswadi police, who have registered a case, are trying to identify whether the accused were part of a bigger network.