Five drug peddlers held, 240 grams of MDMA worth ₹24 lakhs seized

Dhanraj Poojary, one of the two alleged drug peddlers arrested by CCB sleuths of Mangaluru City police in Mangaluru on Friday.

The police in Dakshina Kannada, in separate cases, have arrested five persons on charges of drug trafficking and have seized 240.4 grams of drugs worth ₹24 lakhs.

The Central Crime Branch sleuths in Mangaluru on Friday arrested two persons and seized a total of 164 grams of MDMA, worth ₹ 16.4 lakh.

The CCB sleuths raided a place in Hoige Bazar on Friday, following a tip-off about the sale of drugs brought from Bengaluru to students and others. The police seized 104 grams of MDMA worth ₹10.4 lakh, a mobile phone, and a digital weighing device. The police arrested Pranam Kotiyan, 30, of Hoige Bazar in connection with the drugs. Kotiyan is an accused in a case of assault registered in 2016 and three other cases related to the sale and consumption of drugs registered in 2022 and 2026, the police said.

The sleuths raided a place in Padavinangady on Friday and seized 60 grams of MDMA worth ₹6 lakh, a mobile phone, and a digital weighing machine. Dhanraj Poojary, 33, of Valachil, was arrested in this connection. Poojary is an accused in 12 criminal cases registered in Mangaluru City Police Stations and in Bantwal Police Station. He has undergone three years of imprisonment in a case of assault registered in 2016 at the Surathkal Police Station.

The search is on for other persons allegedly involved with the accused, the police stated.

Three arrested in Bantwal

The Bantwal Town police on Thursday arrested A. Zubair, Mohammed Sawad, and B.M. Rasheed and seized 76.4 grams of MDMA, worth ₹7.64 lakh, from the accused.

In a press note, the police said a team led by Police Sub-Inspector Sandeep Kumar Shetty searched a car near Melkar flyover and seized the drugs. The police said the accused intended to sell drugs to people in the area. The police also seized three mobile phones and the car used by the accused.