Mangaluru police have arrested three men and seized 1,796.96 grams of MDMA, valued at about Rs 1.58 crore, in an operation near DMart at Kumpala in Ullal taluk, according to the Mangaluru City Crime Branch and City Police Commissioner Sudheer Kumar Reddy.
The seizure was carried out at around 10 pm on Thursday after CCB personnel acted on specific information about the alleged sale of MDMA in Mangaluru. Police said the consignment was intercepted before it could be distributed in the city and parts of Kerala.
The arrested men have been identified as Abdul Hafeel, 25, a native of Kasaragod district in Kerala; Zia-ul-Haq, 30, a resident of Kasaba Bengre in Mangaluru; and Altaf, 28, who lives in Pandeshwar. The police have alleged that the men procured the drug from Amritsar in Punjab and arranged for it to be sent to Mangaluru through a courier service.
According to the police statement, the MDMA was concealed inside the water-storage compartment of a water purifier. The method allegedly allowed the consignment to be transported in a household appliance before it reached the city. Police said the accused planned to distribute and sell the drug in different parts of Mangaluru and Kerala.
The operation also resulted in the seizure of three mobile phones, a Maruti Suzuki Swift car, an autorickshaw, a cardboard courier box and the water purifier in which the drug was allegedly concealed. These items are part of the investigation into the movement and intended distribution of the consignment.
Police said Hafeel had previously been booked in a drug consumption case at Ullal police station. Zia-ul-Haq had allegedly faced a drug-selling case in Ras Al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and served a three-year prison sentence before returning to India, while Altaf had also faced a drug consumption case at Pandeshwar police station. These details were provided by the police and form part of the allegations being examined in the case.
A case has been registered at Ullal police station. The three accused are to be questioned and produced before the court, while further investigation is under way. The police inquiry will examine the alleged procurement route, the courier movement and the intended distribution network linked to the seized consignment.
