Kasaragod: Kasaragod Police have arrested the eighth accused, Jean Pierre Sery alias Samuel Austen (35), a citizen of Ivory Coast, in connection with the seizure of 139.29 grams of MDMA from a group of Youth Congress workers from Kalikkadavu on the Kasaragod-Kannur border.

Police alleged Austen was part of a team that cooked and supplied MDMA to Kerala. Kasaragod district police chief Nidhinraj P said Austen was arrested in Noida. With this, the number of people arrested in the case has risen to eight.

Those arrested earlier were Abdul Salam P A, Muhammad Hussain K H, Abbas P A, Sainulabdeen E S, all from Ernakulam; Muhammad Sabir K from Kasaragod; Riya Khan from Ahmedabad; and Victor Dzaba from Ghana. Police said Austen was traced to Noida after investigators examined information obtained from those arrested earlier, WhatsApp messages, phone records and bank transactions. He was in contact with the seventh accused Dzaba, whom he had met while the two were in Kannur Central Prison in connection with separate cases. Dzaba contacted Austen after he was unable to source drugs directly and sought his help to arrange their supply to Kerala, police said.

Jail acquaintance turns into drug network
Sainulabdeen, Muhammad Sabir and Dzaba too met in Kannur Central Prison. Nidhinraj said Sainulabdeen was involved in three cheating cases, Sabir in a drug case registered at Thirunelli police station and Dzaba in a drug case registered at Nadakkavu police station in Kozhikode. The three remained in contact through WhatsApp after being released on bail and later became involved in drug trafficking.

While staying at a transit home at Kottiyam in Kollam district, Dzaba allegedly remained in regular contact with Sainulabdeen through different WhatsApp accounts and discussed drug sales, police said. When Dzaba could no longer source drugs directly, he contacted Austen in Noida, who arranged for drugs to be brought to Kerala, said police.

Police said Austen also provided Dzaba with bank account details to transfer payment for the drugs. These details were later passed on to Sainulabdeen and Sabir. Sainulabdeen transferred money from his wife's account to an SBI account in the name of a Mizoram native. Investigators found that the account was being used for drug-related transactions. The amounts were subsequently withdrawn from various ATMs in Noida by people from Austen's native place, allegedly on his instructions. These financial transactions helped investigators trace further links in the network that was allegedly supplying drugs to Kerala.

Police said Sabir used Rubia Begum and Shathi Sheikh alias Riya Khan, whom he had met in Bengaluru, as carriers to bring drugs to Kerala. Riya Khan and her friend Vishnu Kumar, a native of Agra in Uttar Pradesh, brought drugs to Kerala in several consignments from Bengaluru and Delhi at the direction of Sainulabdeen, police said, adding that he transferred over ₹1 lakh in several instalments to Vishnu Kumar's bank account as payment for transporting the drugs.

The investigation also found that Sabir had Sainulabdeen transfer money to the bank accounts of his wife, mother, sister and brother-in-law as part of the drug transactions. Investigators suspect that these accounts were part of the financial network used to purchase and transport the drugs.

140 grams of MDMA brought to Kasaragod
The investigation found that around 140 grams of MDMA from a consignment brought for Sainulabdeen on August 4 was handed over to Sabir for distribution in Kasaragod district. Sabir then allegedly handed over the MDMA to Abdul Salam, Muhammad Hussain and Abbas, all Youth Congress workers from Ernakulam. Police said a car bearing registration number KL 40 W 6051 was also arranged to transport the drugs. Around 7.50 am on August 9, Chandera police intercepted the car on the service road of NH 66 at Kalikkadavu in Pilicode and seized MDMA in different quantities from Salam, Hussain and Abbas. Another 39.210 grams was found in the car's dashboard, taking the total seizure to 139.29 grams. A case was registered for possessing a commercial quantity of MDMA for illegal sale.

The detailed investigation that followed uncovered an alleged drug distribution network extending across Kerala and other states.