Kannada actor, aide held for buying drug from UK

BENGALURU: A small-time Kannada film actor and fitness enthusiast was among two youths from Rajajinagar who were nabbed by Bengaluru City Customs for smuggling hydroponic weed via Foreign Post Office (FPO), Chamarajpet, on Friday.
The 29-year-old male actor and 27-year-old unemployed man had placed orders through the dark web with a dealer in the United Kingdom.
Sources said the budding actor was the brain behind the business and the two have been operating from their residences since 2018. This was the first time they tried to procure drugs on the dark web. Customs officials declined to divulge the details of the duo, stating it would hamper their efforts to nab their two accomplices.
The parcel reached the FPO in Chamarajpet on Wednesday, and the sleuths deployed at the post office scanned it. They cut open the parcel an found 30 grams of hydroponic ganja hidden amidst other items. The drug, estimated to be worth over Rs 60,000, had been sent by air courier from a location in the UK. Officials traced the two youths who are childhood friends and neighbours in Rajajinagar. They had earlier procured drugs from Mandi Mohalla in Mysuru and sold them in Bengaluru.
The two have been booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and sent to the Central Prison, Parappana Agrahara, after being remanded in judicial custody.