Sulthan Bathery: A team of excise officials arrested two youngsters, with 41.5 grams of MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine) while inspecting a private interstate bus at the Muthanga check post in the wee hours of Thursday.

The accused are Chembrayi Veettil Muhammed Ashique (29), a native of Feroke, Kozhikode, and Vaniyambalam Pallath Veettil Abin Soorya (19), a native of Vandoor, Malappuram.

Both were travelling to Kerala from Chennai with the contraband. Interestingly, Muhammed Ashique had earlier been arrested by the excise team in October 2025 with 53.9 grams of methamphetamine.

The excise sleuths had also seized the car he was allegedly using to smuggle drugs last year. Recently released on bail, he has now landed in the excise department’s net again, this time with MDMA.

According to officials, possession of up to 10 grams of MDMA is considered a small quantity and may attract lesser punishment, whereas possession of more than 10 grams is treated as a commercial quantity and can invite a sentence of up to 20 years’ imprisonment under the NDPS Act.

A popular synthetic drug sought after by youngsters, MDMA is commonly known as ‘molly’ or ‘ecstasy’. The substance is odourless and easy to carry, and can be concealed in small quantities on the body, in clothing, or inside vehicles.

The duo was nabbed by a team led by Sulthan Bathery Excise Inspector MK Sunil. They were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court-I, Sulthan Bathery, and remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.