Mangaluru: Two Alleged Drug Traffickers Arrested, 164 Gm MDMA Seized

The accused were allegedly targeting members of the public, including students, by supplying the banned synthetic drug in different parts of the city.

In the first case, CCB police acted on specific information that MDMA was being brought from Bengaluru and sold from a house in Hoige Bazaar. A raid conducted on June 5 led to the arrest of Pranam Kotian (30), a resident of Hoige Bazaar.

Police seized 104 grams of MDMA valued at around Rs 10.4 lakh from his possession, along with a mobile phone, zip-lock covers used for packaging the drug and a digital weighing scale. A case has been registered at Mangaluru South police station.

Police said Pranam Kotian has several cases registered against him, including an assault and criminal intimidation case at Mangaluru South police station in 2016, a drug consumption case in 2026, a ganja-related case registered by the Excise Department in 2022 and a ganja sale case at Mangaluru North police station in the same year.

In another operation carried out the same day, the CCB police raided a house in Padavinangady following information that MDMA was being sold from the premises. The police arrested Dhanaraj Poojary alias Dhanu Valachil (33) and recovered 60 grams of MDMA worth approximately Rs 6 lakh.
Police also seized zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a digital weighing scale from the accused. A case has been registered at Mangaluru Rural police station.

According to police, Dhanaraj has around 12 cases registered against him at various police stations, including Mangaluru South, Mangaluru North, Surathkal, Barke, Kavoor, Kankanady City and Bantwal.

He was also sentenced to three years' imprisonment in a grievous assault case registered at Surathkal police station in 2016.