Drugs worth ₹85 lakh seized; 15 Nigerians held

Out of the 14 illegally staying Nigerians, one managed to flee police custody while the police were putting them in the Van. The video of the incident also went viral. Within one hour, the cops managed to catch him again from the same vicinity

Navi Mumbai: In a bid to curb the drug menace in Navi Mumbai, the police on Friday carried out a coordinated crackdown in 12 places in Ulwe node and seized narcotic drugs worth ₹84.85 lakh are arrested one Nigerian nationals, while the remaining 14 Nigerians, including seven women and seven men, were staying illegally with invalid Visas in sectors 3, 5, 18, 24, and 25 of the Ulwe node. This was the second such coordinated raid by the police on Nigerians.

The raid was coordinated and conducted jointly by the zones of Navi Mumbai police and Narcotics Crime Bureau (NCB). (HT Photo)

Out of the 14 illegally staying Nigerians, one managed to flee police custody while the police were putting them in the Van. The video of the incident also went viral. Within one hour, the cops managed to catch him again from the same vicinity.

The accused found with the drugs has been identified as Julius O Anthony Onyekachukwu, 44. The police seized 706-gram MD (Mephedrone) worth ₹70.60 lakh and 95-gram Cocaine worth ₹14.25 lakh, amounting to a total of ₹84.85 lakh.

The raid was coordinated and conducted jointly by the zones of Navi Mumbai police and Narcotics Crime Bureau (NCB). “The coordinated raids help us to make sure that no message is passed on to any other Nigerian giving them time to flee from the spot. All the Nigerians here are mostly in garment business. Of the 15 nabbed, 14 have been overstaying and hence they were given notice of Leave India. The 14 accused constitute of seven male and seven female,” a police officer from the team who raided the place, said.

According to police, while MD can be made anywhere in India, Cocaine usually comes from another country. “Cocaine is produced in Latin America generally and then it comes to India via many other countries. Now, where this came from would be found only in further investigations,” Neeraj Choudhary, senior police inspector, narcotics unit, said.

In September alone, the Narcotics Department had conducted six different raids in which they seized drugs worth ₹5.50 crore which included Tramadol Hydrochloride anti-depressant tablets, MD , and Cocaine.

The case has been registered with NRI Coastal police under sections 22 (punishment for contravention about psychotropic substances) and 8 (c) (producing, manufacturing, possessing, selling, purchasing, transporting, using, consuming, importing, exporting any narcotic drug/psychotropic substance) of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.