NCB arrests two Nigerian, seizes large quantity of drugs in Bengaluru

Bengaluru: Two Nigerian nationals, including a woman, have been arrested here on charges of drug peddling and 3,000 ecstasy pills and cocaine, received from the Netherlands and Ethiopia through postal parcel service, seized by the Narcotic Control Bureau, 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, totally weighing 610 grams and 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 reduces 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 was 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.