A 38-year-old Nigerian national has been arrested by the Ernakulam Rural police in connection with the seizure of 168 grams of ecstasy drug from four youths in Bengaluru.

Police said the suspect identified as Remijus Eze Chinedu was arrested from a flat in Bengaluru on Sunday, February 27. 

Chinedu is said to be a key link in gangs engaged in smuggling drugs like MDMA in several Indian cities.

Nedumabassery police had arrested four youths from Kariyaad with 164gm of MDMA in November last year while they were transporting the contraband from Bengaluru. 

The contraband worth millions in the black market, was found stashed in a hidden compartment made under the steering wheel of their car. 

Police said extensive investigation was held to identify the source of the contraband which led them to the Nigerian national. 

A team led by District Police Chief (Ernakulam Rural) K. Karthik found that Remijus had reached India in 2016 on a medical visa.

He continued to stay in Bengaluru illegally even as his application for visa renewal was rejected.

To prevent detection by the police, he used to frequently change locations where drugs would be handed over.

He managed to give the police the slip twice in Bengaluru. He had served a jail term in 2017 in a drug case, the police said.

Nedumbassery Inspector P.M. Baiju, Assistant Sub Inspector Aneesh K. Das, and senior civil police officers Rony Augustine, Ajith Kumar, and Midhun were part of the team that made the arrest.