In a significant breakthrough, the Bengaluru Police have arrested two Nigerian women for attempting to smuggle over 37 kilograms of MDMA, a powerful narcotic, with an estimated street value of Rs 75 crore. This marks the largest-ever drug haul in Karnataka, according to police officials. The arrested women, Bamba Fanta (31) and Abigail Adonis (30), were detained at Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru on Sunday.
The two women were apprehended after arriving at the airport from Delhi, where they were carrying the drugs concealed in their trolley bags. Along with the drugs, the police also seized four mobile phones, passports, and Rs 18,000 in cash from the suspects. Both women had been residing in Delhi and were deeply involved in the smuggling of MDMA across various regions of India, using air travel as their primary means of transporting the drugs.
According to Mangaluru Police Commissioner Anupam Agrawal, the women had been part of a drug cartel for about 1-2 years. They had made frequent trips between cities, with records indicating that they had traveled to Mumbai 37 times and Bengaluru 22 times over the past year, each time smuggling drugs.
Fanta had arrived in India on a business visa in 2020, while Adonis had been residing in the country since 2016. The police operation, which began six months ago, was triggered when they arrested Haider Ali, a man in Mangaluru, with 15 grams of MDMA. This led to further investigations and the discovery of a connection to another Nigerian national, Peter, who was arrested in Bengaluru with 6 kilograms of MDMA. The arrests of the two women have now exposed the scale of the drug trafficking network operating in the region.
The authorities are continuing their investigation, seeking to uncover additional members of the cartel and dismantle the illegal drug trade.
