Kerala drug racket kingpin caught from Bengaluru hideout

Kozhikode: The Elathoor police have arrested the alleged kingpin of a racket that trafficked narcotics from Bengaluru to Kerala. The accused, 29-year-old Khulfi Yasin from Vengalam, was taken into custody in Madivala, Bengaluru, by a team led by Elathoor Police Station Inspector K R Ranjith.

Last month, police had arrested another key member of the network, 26-year-old Muhammed Nufail from Astholi, for trafficking MDMA to Kozhikode and retailing it in the city. Examination of Nufail’s bank transactions led investigators to Yasin.

Yasin was caught in a swift operation near his apartment in Madivala, where he had been running his narcotics trade for the past seven years. According to police, he sourced MDMA, methamphetamine, and brown sugar from Nigerian drug cartels in Mumbai and Bengaluru before selling them locally.

Investigators said Yasin also used women and youngsters who had come to Bengaluru for work to distribute drugs. The accused was produced in court and remanded in custody.