Nigerian national held in Bengaluru, drugs worth Rs 1.5 cr seized

Bengaluru, Sep 23 (IANS) The Bengaluru police have busted a drug peddling network involving a Nigerian national and his Indian woman friend in the city, officials said, adding that they have also seized narcotic substances worth more than Rs 1.5 crore.

The anti-narcotics division sleuths attached to the special wing of the Bengaluru Central Crime Branch (CCB) have conducted the operation and seized 1.5 gm of MDMA crystals, an electronic weighing machine and three mobile phones from the possession of the accused.

The accused are identified as 41-year-old Michael Dike Okali, a Nigerian national, and his 25-year-old friend Sahana from Bengaluru.

They were arrested at a residence in Yarrappanahalli village in Bengaluru Rural district, police said.

Police said that the accused Michael came to India on a business visa in 2018 and rented a house in K.R. Puram locality in Bengaluru. The other accused Sahana was his neighbour and became friends.

Later, Michael had allegedly got Sahana into the drug peddling business.

They shifted to a house in the Balaji Layout in Yarrappanahalli village in Bengaluru Rural and carried out drug peddling from there, police added.

The CCB Police had cracked a drug peddling case in the month of July and arrested a person and seized four kg of MDMA crystals from him.

Based on the information gathered from the accused, the CCB sleuths had tracked down Michael and Sahana's drug peddling network and arrested them at their residence by conducting a raid.

The police had received information only about the accused Michael and they were surprised to see his friend Sahana there. Later, after preliminary investigations they have arrested Sahana.

Michael was previously booked under the NDPS Act in 2018.

The accused were produced before the court and sent to a judicial custody remand.