Kerala Police Bust MDMA Network Spanning 2,000 km, Arrest Two Foreign Nationals in Delhi

A routine seizure of 0.6 gram of MDMA in New Mahe, Kannur, has unravelled into a 2,000-km investigation that stretched across several states and ended with the arrest of two foreign nationals in Delhi.

The case began in the first week of July when Rajinas was apprehended with the small quantity of the synthetic drug. Questioning led investigators to Mohammad Sameel, whose house and vehicle were searched on July 10, yielding 185 grams of MDMA.

Analysis of Sameel's phone and financial records pointed to Mujitaba, alias "Tabu", believed to be a key intermediary. Police traced Tabu to Bengaluru, where he was arrested after investigators pieced together call records, money trails and movement patterns.

The network, according to police, relied on drop points where consignments were left at designated locations and collectors received only the coordinates, keeping suppliers and buyers at arm's length. Investigators say the group frequently rotated SIM cards, operated around 20 bank accounts and moved crores of rupees through them.

As the probe widened, Kerala Police shared inputs with Haryana Police, leading to the arrest of Arshad Ali in Gurugram with about 800 grams of MDMA. Police describe him as an associate of Tabu. Further arrests followed: Abdul Rahman and Ernakulam native Rishad, who allegedly arranged fake documents, SIM cards and mule bank accounts for the operation.

With multiple leads converging on Delhi, a team drawn from the Kannur DANSAF squad, the Thalassery ASP squad and Thalassery Police spent about ten days in the capital. The operation ended with the arrest of 36-year-old Nigerian national Chinelo Lilian and 30-year-old Cameroon national Philomene Chancelin.

Kannur Range Deputy Inspector General of Police K Karthik said the two women had run a dry fruit shop in Delhi for the past year, using it as a cover for drug operations. He said police were now trying to identify and arrest the kingpin of the network.

"We are now trying to hunt the main kingpin. We have information that live drug manufacturing was being shown through video calls," the DIG said.

He added that the case pointed to a broader enforcement gap. "Foreign nationals like them are having a free run without enforcement agencies detecting their crimes. This is a national security threat," he said.

The arrests come amid Kerala Police's intensified Operation Toofan, an anti-drug campaign aimed at tracing narcotics networks beyond local distributors to their sources. The state government has also set up a specialised Anti-Narcotics Investigation Team to handle major cases with interstate and international links.