A Nigerian national has been arrested in Bengaluru, India, for allegedly running a major drug distribution network, with authorities recovering MDMA crystals (ecstasy)worth about Rs 2 crore (over N290 million).

The arrest forms part of a wider crackdown on narcotics operations targeting both students and the general public in the city.

According to the Indian Express on Tuesday, the suspect, Samuel Ikkena, 44, was apprehended by the Yelahanka police in Bengaluru, Karnataka State, for allegedly running an MDMA racket disguised as a clothing business.

MDMA, also known as ecstasy, is a psychoactive drug often sold illegally for recreational use.

Ikkena reportedly “procured MDMA near Bannerghatta for Rs 50,000 (around N3.5 million) and sold it at higher rates through a structured illegal network.”

He arrived in India in 2012 on a business visa, initially trading garments in Delhi and Mumbai before moving to Bengaluru in 2025.

Police said investigators recovered 2 kg of MDMA crystals, valued at around Rs 2 crore (N140 million), along with 31.396 kg of cannabis (ganja), 220 g of hydro ganja, additional heroin, and a two-wheeler used for transporting the drugs.

Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh described the total contraband as “estimated at Rs 2.57 crore (N180 million), with a potential street value of approximately Rs 5.14 crore (N360 million).”

Ikenna’s arrest was part of a larger operation that led to 11 arrests, including two foreigners and eight locals, at locations across Bengaluru, including Yelahanka, Adugodi, Bharathinagar, Jalahalli, and Pulakeshinagar. The Adugodi police also arrested Baljit Singh, from Uttar Pradesh, and Arjun Joshi, a Nepalese national, for allegedly supplying heroin in the city.

Police said Joshi, who initially consumed drugs, began selling heroin after sourcing it from Baljit Singh. Authorities recovered 162 g of heroin worth Rs 55 lakh (N3.85 million) and three mobile phones from the duo.

Police said the accused procured drugs from both foreign and interstate suppliers and sold them at inflated prices. Investigators have registered cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and are working to trace the main kingpins behind the network.

The demonstration, led by community groups and traditional leaders in East London, turned violent after initially starting peacefully.

More than 10 vehicles were reportedly set ablaze amid unverified claims that a protester had been stabbed.

Police intervened to disperse the crowd, firing rubber bullets.

Authorities, however, say the alleged stabbing has not been confirmed, adding that no official injuries have been recorded.

Meanwhile, Nigeria’s acting High Commissioner in South Africa has distanced the diplomatic mission from Ezika, describing the coronation as an isolated incident fuelled by misinformation and lacking legitimate authority.

In a video address to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Abbas Araghchi slammed the “calculated, phased assault” on an elementary school “in the city of Minab, south of Iran, where more than 175 students and teachers were slaughtered in cold blood”.

The attack happened on February 28, the day the United States and Israel launched the war with attacks across Iran, with Tehran in turn striking targets in Israel and Gulf nations.

A US Tomahawk cruise missile hit the school due to a targeting mistake, according to the preliminary findings of a US military investigation reported by The New York Times.

The Times said the US military was bombing an adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was formerly a part and target coordinates were set using outdated data.

President Donald Trump intially suggested that Iran itself may have been responsible — despite Iran not having Tomahawk missiles.

Speaking during an urgent council debate focused on the February 28 strike, Araghchi stressed that “at a time when the American-Israeli aggressors, in their own assertions, possess the most advanced technologies, and the highest-precision military and data systems, no one can believe that the attack on the school was anything other than deliberate and intentional”.

The strike, he said, “was a war crime and a crime against humanity, one that demands unequivocal condemnation by all and unambiguous accountability for the culprits”

“This atrocity cannot be justified, cannot be concealed, and must not be met with silence and indifference,” the minister said.

The attack, he insisted, “was not a mere ‘incident’ nor a ‘miscalculation’.”

“The United States’ contradictory remarks aimed at justifying their crime could not, in any manner, elude their responsibility,” he said.