Delhi raid leads to 20 kg meth haul worth ₹100cr, arrest of foreign nationals

Officers found precursor chemicals, solvents and lab gear in Nilothi Extension while tracking couriers who hid contraband in bag cavities.

The special cell of Delhi Police on Wednesday said it had recovered more than 20 kg of the synthetic drug methamphetamine and 700 MDMA tablets worth crores of rupees after arresting four people of African origin, including a woman, and busting a mobile drug manufacturing facility in Delhi.

The lab was run by a group staying without valid documents, with drugs moved by women couriers on long distance trains. (File photo)

While three suspects were arrested in the capital, the fourth was held in Bengaluru. Police said the group manufactured synthetic drugs in Delhi and supplied them to Bengaluru and Mumbai using women couriers who carried the contraband in concealed cavities inside their bags. Precursor chemicals, calcium chloride, methanol, coloured and transparent liquid chemicals, solvents and lab equipment were seized from the facility, said deputy commissioner of police (special cell) Aalap Patel.

“The value of the recovered drugs is more than ₹100 crore in the international market. The arrested people were identified as Ezebuenyi Esther Osita, a 45 year old woman from Nigeria, and her compatriots Charles Chimuanya Ebereonwu alias Nwatayanachidinama Amorka, 22, and Chinoye Emmanuel, 46. The fourth arrested drug dealer was identified as Diarra Idriss, 45, from Cote d’Ivoire, who was famous as White Money and Sir White in the drug peddling world,” said Patel.

According to the DCP, Osita was arrested on November 1 at Dhaula Kaun with a red trolley bag containing 17.146 kg of methamphetamine and 700 drug tablets weighing 440 grams. She told investigators she was part of a syndicate operated by persons of African origin in Delhi and had collected the drugs from Amorka in Chander Vihar for delivery to Idriss in Bengaluru.

Amorka was arrested on November 5 with 3 kg of methamphetamine. During the raid, police unearthed a mobile drug manufacturing facility at Tek Chand Colony in Nilothi Extension. Emmanuel was arrested the next day, and Idriss was arrested in Bengaluru on November 7. Police said Osita received drugs in Janakpuri, Vikaspuri and Uttam Nagar and travelled by long distance trains. All four were staying in India without valid documents, the DCP added.