Hyderabad, Mar 23 (PTI): A 28-year-old Nigerian national was arrested here on Tuesday by the ExciseEnforcement sleuths on the charge of peddling cocaine, officials said.

They seized 153 grams of cocaine and 16 grams of MDMA (methylenedioxy- methamphetamine), a party drug, from him during a raid by a team on a house at MS Makhtha locality following a tip-off.

The man, who claimed to be staying in India on student visa, was a repeat offender and had secured bail after being arrested on similar charges in August last year, they said.

In the latest incident, on inquiry, it was revealed that two people from Bengaluru were sending cocaine to the Nigerian here through their agents for 'sale' at Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 per gram, an official release said.

MDMA, commonly known as 'Molly' or 'Ecstasy' and used as a recreational or party drug, used to be sold at Rs 5,000 per gram, it added.

According to a senior Excise official, the Nigerian was earlier arrested in August last year on charges of drug trafficking and six grams of cocaine seized from him then.

"He is telling that he came to India on a student visa around four years ago. As of now there was no evidence of him having any visa. He further said his passport was deposited in a court case in Mumbai and only a photocopy of the passport was seized from him", the official told PTI.

The official said a notebook showing transactions related to drugs was also seized from the foreigner on Tuesday.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)