The Ernakulam Rural police seized 200 grams of MDMA from a man who was arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
The arrested is Vipin John, 27, hailing from Karunagapally and residing in Thoppumpady. The Ernakulam Rural District Anti-Narcotics Special Action Force and the Angamaly police jointly carried out the operation.
A tip-off received by District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) Vaibhav Saxena led to the seizure and arrest. Vipin was intercepted while travelling in a tourist bus from Bengaluru. He was nabbed during a vehicle checking near the Angamaly KSRTC bus station around 2 a.m.
Vipin reportedly confessed to have sourced the drug directly from Nigerian citizens in Bengaluru. The seized drugs were worth around ₹15 lakh. He allegedly sold the drug in small quantities in Kochi, mainly targeting youngsters. The police suspect him to be a key link of a drug racket.
Vipin reportedly used to adopt different ploys for smuggling in drugs. This time around, the drug wrapped in three packets was found hidden in a secret chamber in his bag.
Mr. Saxena has declared a reward of ₹10,000 for the team involved in the operation.
