Kenyan drug trafficker re-arrested 10 months after she jumped bail

Ten months after she jumped bail, a 36-year-old woman from Kenya, allegedly involved in running a drug racket, was re-arrested from Mumbai by Delhi Police’s special

Ten months after she jumped bail, a 36-year-old woman from Kenya, allegedly involved in running a drug racket, was re-arrested from Mumbai by Delhi Police’s special cell, the police said on Sunday.

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Delhi police had announced a ₹50,000 reward on the arrest of the woman, Mariam alias Mweke, who was released from Tihar Jail on bail in January this year. She was arrested in June last year along with her two male accomplices, who were also foreigners, with 7.5 kilograms of heroin, worth several crores of rupees in international market, the police said.

A senior special cell officer said Mariam was part of an international drug cartel and she had been operating from Delhi when arrested on June 25 last year with two men – Ekene and Martin. Mariam was in possession of 2.5 kilograms of heroin while another 5 kg was seized from the two men. The city police filed its chargesheet in the case on November 1 last year.

Police said that a city court granted bail to Mariam on January 7. But she jumped the bail and evaded further trial proceedings. The investigating team made efforts to trace her but she remained evasive. Thereafter, the process to declared Mariam a proclaimed offender (PO) was initiated against her, police said.

The special cell team was tasked to collect information about the woman fugitive and nab her. The team activated their technical as well as human intelligence network, which helped them learn that Mariam had fled to Mumbai and was living in a densely populated neighbourhood of Nalasopara. A five-member team went to Mumbai and raided her possible hideouts, the officer cited above said.

On September 29, the officer said, the team caught Mariam from a house and brought her to Delhi. Mariam was found allegedly running her syndicate from a house in Nalaspoara. She was produced before the concerned court that sent her to jail.

Police said that Mariam came to India in 2016 on tourist visa for a period of three months. Despite her visa expiring, Mariam stayed back and came in contact with a Kenyan national, Obum Favor, who was allegedly involved in sale and supply of narcotic drugs. Favor convinced Mariam to work for him and supply heroin from Delhi to Punjab.

“Soon, Mariam formed her own syndicate and started supplying heroin to her clients in Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Mumbai and Punjab. Her gang procured heroin from various Afghan nationals in Delhi and supplied it to Delhi and other states,” the officer said.