Inter-State drug racket unearthed; two Congolese nationals held with ₹5 cr. worth of MDMA

With the help of the Mane Manege initiative, the Electronics City police unearthed an inter-State drug racket and arrested two Congolese nationals and recovered 2.15 kg of MDMA crystals worth ₹5 crore from them.

The accused, identified as Joel Kabong, 28, an MBA dropout and an alleged full-time peddler, used to source the drugs from his contacts in Delhi and sell them to his customers, a majority of whom private firm employees and college students.

The accused had come to the city 12 years ago on a student visa and allegedly got addicted to drugs and later joined the peddlers network, M. Narayana, DCP, Electronics City , said.

The racket came to light when the police who were part of the Mane Manege initiative, got a tip-off about African nationals operating in the area suspiciously.

The police team in mufti kept a watch on the accused for two weeks before zeroing in on him, officials said . The police said they recovered 110g of MDMA along with an electronic weighing machine and a few plastic pouches from him.

He was taken into custody, and based on the details provided by him, police arrested his partner, Joy Sunday, 22, a resident of Vidyaranyapura. Probe revealed that Joy used to take orders from customers and send Joel to deliver the drugs, the police said.

Joy’s husband, identified as Angolano, 30, who is also part of the network is presently on the run, the police said. The accused have been operating in the city for many years, having links with a Delhi-based network to get supplies, Mr. Narayana said .

Joel had acted in a Kannada movie, Bheema, in a side role as a peddler and addict, police officials said.

A special team has been formed to track down the other accused .

In a separate incident, the CCB officials arrested D’Costa John, 36, from Senegal, and recovered 255g of MDMA worth ₹40 lakh from him. The accused, according to the police, came to the city in 2024 on a tourist visa and started peddling drugs.