2 Nigerians Arrested With 3,000 Ecstasy Pills, Cocaine In Bengaluru

Two Nigerian nationals, including a woman, were arrested in Bengaluru on charges of drug peddling. 3,000 ecstasy pills and cocaine, received from the Netherlands and Ethiopia through postal parcel service were seized by the Narcotic Control Bureau (NCB), the central agency said on Tuesday.

Acting on intelligence inputs, a team of NCB officials arrested Ramla Shedafa Nancy and Emmanuel Michael when they arrived to collect the parcels at the Foreign Post Office here on December 18, a release from the agency said.

A total of 3,000 yellow and grey-coloured ecstasy pills, weighing 610 gm were hidden in layers of table cloth in the parcels.

The NCB team also recovered 235 grams of cocaine concealed in the inner walls of a corrugated box from another parcel, it said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that ecstasy pills were sourced from the Netherlands for distribution. The cocaine was received from Ethiopia, the NCB said.

The bureau, which has busted several drug rackets in the state in the past few months, said it suspected that the passports of the arrested Nigerians were fake.

MDMA (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), commonly known as ecstasy, is a party drug that alters mood and perception and induces feelings of increased energy and pleasure.

The NCB release said the popularity of such synthetic drugs have increased manifold over the past five years in the country.

Cocaine, also known as coke, is a strong stimulant most frequently used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled as smoke, or dissolved and injected into a vein, the release said, adding high doses of the drug can result in very high blood pressure or body temperature.