Navi Mumbai police deported 411 Nigerians in drug crackdown of 2023

Navi Mumbai police deported 506 foreign nationals, primarily Nigerians, in 2023 as part of a crackdown on drug peddling. The police are also conducting checks and citizen awareness programs to encourage reporting of overstaying foreigners.

Navi Mumbai: To make the city drug-free, the Navi Mumbai police deported 506 foreign nationals back to their home countries in 2023, with 411 of them being Nigerian nationals targeted in the crackdown, according to police sources.

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In 2023, the anti-narcotics cell of Navi Mumbai conducted coordinated raids across the city to nab Nigerian nationals overstaying their visas illegally, many of whom were found to be involved in drug peddling. Since the crackdown, the police have been stringently keeping a check on Nigerians overstaying their visa period.

“Interrogating Nigerian nationals is the most difficult challenge due to language barriers and their reluctance to cooperate. Most of them do not even use mobile phones which could have otherwise helped us in conducting technical investigation. The best way to end the drug menace wherein a Nigerian national is involved, is to find them and deport them,” said a police officer from the narcotics unit in Navi Mumbai.

Besides, the Special Branch of Navi Mumbai has been conducting checks and deporting overstaying foreigners. Apart from Nigerians, other deported foreign nationals included individuals from Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Bangladesh, Ghana, The Gambia, Kenya, Senegal, Tanzania, Cameroon, Zimbabwe, and Liberia.

“Out of the 506 deported, 23 were deported as per court orders, while the remaining 483 were found to be staying illegally and were deported after being given notice to leave the country,” said Milind Bharambe, commissioner of police, Navi Mumbai.

The Foreign National Registration Department, under the special branch of Navi Mumbai Police, has been identifying and deporting overstaying foreign nationals. The deportation figures for 2023 marked an increase compared to the past three years.

In addition to legal actions against overstayers, the police are engaging in citizen awareness programmes to encourage residents to report any sightings of foreign nationals overstaying in their society. The special branch has reached out to around 53,000 residents through physical and online workshops. “We inform them of the procedure of renting a flat to a foreign national. There are specific forms that need to be filled by the tenant and the special branch conducts checks on the visa and passport of the foreign national. A person renting out their flat without due procedure can be penalised,” assistant police inspector Vishal Mane from the special branch said. This year, within a month, the team has deported 40 foreign nationals overstaying in the country.

In the year 2023, the special branch has also cleared 82,080 passport and international police clearance certificate requests, 32276 online character verifications, 1388 government department and job-related verifications, and 1660 motor vehicle-related verifications.