The city police arrested two persons who were allegedly running a drug peddling network and recovered drugs worth ₹3.5 crore.
The accused have been identified as Tariq Iqbal, 33, working as a business analyst in a private firm in Bengaluru, and his associate, Mohammed Arbaz, 29, a PU dropout and a resident of Kadugodi.
City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh, addressing a press conference, said that a total of 3.2 kg of MDMA crystals, along with a scooter and mobile phones, were seized from the accused. The accused used to keep the MDMA (Ecstasy) crystals buried in a burial ground to avoid detection, the police said.
Tariq had bought the narcotics at a lower rate from a Nigerian national and was selling them to partygoers during New Year celebrations, police said.
Acting on specific intelligence that narcotics were being sold to youths during New Year festivities, Ashok Nagar police laid a trap near a burial ground on Hosur Road and arrested Tariq Iqbal. During interrogation, he revealed that MDMA crystals, procured from a Nigerian national, had been buried next to a tomb in the burial grounds. Police recovered 2.48 kg of MDMA crystals from there.
Arbaz was arrested in Baiyyappanahalli’s Malleshpalya area. A subsequent search of his residence in Kadugodi led to the seizure of an additional 720 gm of MDMA crystals.
Both the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and further investigation is on to identify other members of the drug network.
Published – January 06, 2026 07:02 pm IST
