The Narcotics Control Bureau Ahmedabad has busted an international drug syndicate with the seizure of two kg ketamine and arrested four persons, including three Nigerian nationals, the NCB said on Sunday.

The accused conspired to traffic ketamine from India to foreign countries through courier parcels, the NCB said in a release, detailing the significant crackdown of the organised drug crime operating from the Indian soil.  The value of the seized contraband was not specified.

Ketamine is a highly valued and sought after contraband in USA and also used as a “date rape” drug, the release said. The NCB Ahmedabad received an initial input on December 3 that nearly two kg of ketamine concealed in spice packets of various brands was being shipped to the US through courier agencies, it said.

Extensive technical surveillance coupled with human intel led the drug law enforcement agency to zero in on a person, Adnan Furniturewala, who once resided in Pune but later moved to the US, it said. It further came to light that Furniturewala was deported to India after being booked in three cases of drug trafficking in the US, the NCB said.

While being in India, the accused was booked in another case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act by the NCB Mumbai last year and was currently out on parole, it said. “In the present case, he was always a step ahead of authorities and continuously kept on changing his hideout and employed numerous tactics so as to dodge the agency,” the release said.

“However, in a precisely executed operation that spanned through states of Gujarat, Maharashtra and Karnataka, he was tracked and finally arrested on December 8 from an apartment in Bellahalli area of Bengaluru, Karnataka,” it stated.

The probe further indicated the seized ketamine was supplied to him by a Nigerian syndicate operating from Delhi and supplying contraband through courier agencies, the NCB said. “Concerted efforts by the agency led to the nabbing of Emmanuel Ifanyi Nwaobiora alias Mike along with his two associates Ekeleme Ahamefula Joseph and Emmanuel Osaja on December 18 from Mehrauli area of Delhi,” it said.

Further investigation was being carried out by the NCB’s Ahmedabad zonal unit to find out the source of the contraband, the release said.