Mananthavady: The excise department has busted a drug smuggling racket that used nursing students in Bengaluru as carriers. An excise department team headed by Mananthavady Circle Inspector A Prajith arrested five youths and seized 204 gms of MDMA from their car during a vehicle check at Bavali Check post near Mananthavady on Tuesday evening during a combined operation of Wayanad Excise Intelligence Investigation Bureau, special squad under the Mananthavady circle office and the Bavaly check-post team. The drug was hidden under the steering wheel of the car using an insulation tape.
'' We felt something odd with the gang and the vehicle check was done on suspicion. Though we quizzed them several times, the gangsters refused to divulge any information. Later, after a prolonged search, our team members unearthed the hidden substance,'' said Circle Inspector Prajith.
They were planning to sell the drugs in Vythiri and Kalpetta focusing on colleges and tourism properties. According to officials, MDMA seizure cases involving students studying in Bengaluru are being reported more frequently. The agents lure the students with a decent commission and some of them act as carriers and consumers.
'' The agents purchase the stuff at Bengaluru and hand it over to the students who will get a commission for a luxurious city life. In addition, the students will get MDMA for their use and gradually they would metamorphose into seasoned smugglers and addicts,'' he said. Those arrested in conne.