The Narcotics Control Bureau has unearthed three syndicates, including the one that supplied drugs to prominent musicians and actors in Karnataka. Six persons have been arrested with 4,317 MDMA pills, 180 LSD Blots and over ₹2.20 lakh in cash.
On August 21, the NCB’s Bengaluru zonal unit seized 145 MDMA pills, commonly known as ecstasy, and the cash at a hotel apartment in Kalyan Nagar. In the follow up action, the officials seized 96 more pills and 180 LSD blots from another location in the city.
Following the leads, the agency intercepted a woman drug supplier and seized from her 270 MDMA pills from her house in Bengaluru’s Dodagubbi. The three accused arrested in the operation were identified as M. Anoop, R. Ravindran and Anikha D.
Deputy Director (Ops) K.P.S. Malhotra said preliminary investigations revealed that the accused supplied drugs to the affluent sections of society, including prominent musicians and actors, as well as college students and youngsters. More persons are likely to be apprehended by the Bengaluru unit.
Another case was reported on August 10, when the agency’s Mumbai zone unit seized 3,010 of MDMA pills, sourced from Brussels. The pills were concealed in the false cavity of a cardboard box containing soft toys. Subsequent action resulted in the seizure of 46 more tablets from the Navi Mumbai residence of a couple, who were arrested. The NCB is trying to identify the others involved in the network.
In the third case, the NCB’s Bengaluru unit on July 31 seized 750 MDMA pills, which were sourced from Germany. Further probe led to the arrest of one Rahman K, who was to allegedly receive the parcel. “Rahman had been selling MDMA and other party drugs among students of his college and the neighbouring ones,” said Mr. Malhotra, in a statement, adding that he used Bitcoins to place the order online.
As per the UNODC World Drug Report-2020, ‘ecstasy’ continues to be manufactured primarily in Europe, most notably in Western and Central Europe. Europe accounts for two thirds of the ‘ecstasy’ laboratories dismantled worldwide.
