BENGALURU: In a major crackdown on organised drug trafficking, Ashoknagar police have arrested two men for allegedly importing high-value narcotics from a foreign national, hiding them inside a graveyard and selling them to customers across the city. The police have seized 3.2 kg of MDMA crystal valued at approximately Rs 3.5 crore from the accused.
The arrested persons have been identified as Syed Tariq Iqbal (33) of Chikka Banaswadi and Sheikh Mohammed Arbaz (29) of Kadugodi. Police said both accused were taken into custody following a tip-off and are currently being interrogated to uncover the wider drug network operating in Bengaluru.
According to investigators, Syed Tariq Iqbal is a B.Com graduate who worked for a private company. At the same time, Sheikh Mohammed Arbaz had completed PUC and was involved in the second-hand car business. The two were friends and had allegedly become addicted to narcotic substances. To fund their addiction and earn quick money, they allegedly turned to drug peddling.
Police revealed that the accused procured MDMA crystal at a low price from a Nigerian national and planned to sell it at a premium during New Year celebrations, when demand for party drugs typically spikes. To avoid suspicion and evade law enforcement, the accused adopted an unusual storage method. They hid a large quantity of the drugs inside a grave at a cemetery located near Hosur Road. Around 2.48 kg of MDMA crystal was concealed at the burial site, while the remaining quantity was kept at other locations in the city.
Acting on specific intelligence, Ashoknagar police first detained Syed Tariq Iqbal and subjected him to sustained interrogation. During questioning, he allegedly confessed to his involvement in the drug trade and revealed the role of his associate Arbaz. Based on this information, the police arrested the second accused and recovered the entire consignment of drugs.
Further investigation revealed that Sheikh Mohammed Arbaz is not new to drug-related offences. Police stated that he has previous cases registered against him under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Bommanahalli and Adugodi police stations. He was reportedly released from jail just six months ago, raising concerns over repeat offenders re-entering the drug trade soon after release.
Senior police officials said the accused were operating systematically, using secluded locations like cemeteries to store narcotics and supplying them to selected customers to avoid detection. The use of burial grounds for hiding drugs has alarmed authorities, highlighting the increasing sophistication and audacity of drug networks in the city.
The arrests come amid heightened vigilance by law enforcement agencies following a series of major drug busts in Bengaluru and other parts of the state. Recently, the Maharashtra Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ATNF) seized narcotics worth Rs 55.88 crore that were being stored at multiple locations in Bengaluru. In that case, four accused, including Suraj Ramesh Yadav from Rajasthan, were arrested for running drug manufacturing units under the guise of an events company.
In another incident, Bengaluru police had earlier arrested a Nigerian woman, Olajide Esther, who was caught smuggling cocaine worth Rs 1.2 crore from Mumbai to Bengaluru by concealing it inside bread packets. She was booked under the NDPS Act and remanded to judicial custody.
Police officials said these cases point to a growing nexus between local peddlers and foreign nationals in the drug trade. Investigators are now probing the supply chain in the present case to identify the foreign supplier and possible links to international drug syndicates.
