A 31-year-old who won an Indian state’s award for best young farmer was arrested for smuggling synthetic drugs hidden inside banana bunches.

Dhanesh Nair, known as Dani, was arrested on Monday in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, carrying 8gm of MDMA and 803gm of suspected hashish oil, police said.

Mr Nair won Kerala’s Best Young Farmer award in 2022. He was currently living near Mysuru in neighbouring Karnataka state .

Mr Nair was the “main accused in a drug smuggling gang” that moved large quantities of MDMA from Karnataka to Kerala, police said, adding that he had recruited young people to distribute the drugs to dealers and consumers.

Mr Nair used banana plantations and farmland in Nanjangud near Mysuru as cover, police alleged, adding that videos on his phone showed drugs being concealed in banana bunches.

"He has been transporting all kinds of synthetic drugs, concealed inside banana bunches, from Karnataka to Kerala for some time," a police officer involved in the investigation told the paper…