BENGALURU: A 38-year-old drug peddler from Africa has been arrested for allegedly manufacturing MDMA crystals at a lab in his rented house in Electronics City. He’s also accused of supplying the drug to peddlers in major cities across India by concealing it in shoe soles and smuggling it to New Zealand via post or courier.
Central Crime Branch (CCB) police said David Joao Malave, a resident of Chamundi Layout, had two passports — one from Uganda and another from Mozambique.
Police learnt about Malave’s secret ‘narco lab’ while investigating a case where drug peddlers were caught in east Bengaluru recently. Cops had found a short video (of about 10 seconds) on a mobile phone belonging to a peddler, which shows Malave informing the former that he manufactured MDMA crystals in Bengaluru and was ready to supply.
“We questioned the suspect about Malave and were unable to get more information. We zeroed in on Malave using the mobile number he used to send the video to the peddler,” a police source said.
A team headed by assistant commissioner KC Gautham and CCB inspector R Virupaksha Swamy rushed to Chamundi Layout and raided Malave’s house. The cops were surprised to find a lab inside a room in the 2BHK house, which Malave had occupied two months ago. He had told the elderly couple that rented out the house that he worked for a private company.
Police seized chemicals — acetone, hypophosphorous acid, iodine resublimed 99%, plain acid and sodium hydroxide — Malave used to manufacture synthetic drugs. The seizure also included a measuring cylinder, plastic, heating mantle, flask, face mask, PH measure stick and other equipment used to make the drugs and a pair of shoes.
Police have estimated the value of the seized materials at Rs 2 crore and are launching a manhunt for Malave’s close associate involved in manufacturing of drugs.
