It took 11 Indian policemen to subdue and arrest a Nigerian drug pusher near a garden at MiniSeashore in Mumbai, in the Indian state of Maharashtra.
According to a report by The Times of India, the accused, Nwafor Igwe Chima, was found in possession of 263 gm of methaqualone powder also called as ‘MD rock’, worth around Rs 5.26 lakh(about $8,000), on Thursday night.
The stocky Nigerian resisted arrest by pushing away three cops and attempting to flee. Eight policemen were then called in to subdue the Nigerian, who reports said had turned ferocious.
Since July 2015 till date, the Vashi police claims to have arrested as many as 16 Nigerians from Juhugaon, Koparkhairane and Ghansoli areas, for various criminal offences, said senior inspector Ajay Landge.
In Delhi too, some Nigerians have also been arrested for drug running.
Last week, a Nigerian was among the three suspects arrested by the Delhi police over drugs.
The accused were identified as Uchenna (28), from Nigeria, Indian Ajay (33) and his associate Naresh Kumar (39), from Mohan Garden in west Delhi’s Uttam Nagar.
The Hindu newspaper said as much as 170 grams of cocaine and 590 grams of fine-quality heroin estimated to be worth a consolidated amount of ₹2 crore, about $320,000 in the underground drug market were seized from the trio, said Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner of police (crime).
On Tuesday this week, India’s Kullu police brought a Nigerian drug kingpin, identified as Okechukwu Mathew to Manali after arresting him in Delhi.
The police team according to The Times of India also seized 1.55kg heroin, worth Rs 4 crore in international market, from his rented house in New Delhi on Monday night.
The arrest was made following a tip off from a drug peddler nabbed from Manikaran area on February 11.
Manali police had jailed the Nigerian, identified as Okechukwu Matthew, earlier in 2014 after arresting him with 20g cocaine. He was released in 2015. The accused used to supply small quantities of drugs, mostly in tourist places, with help of peddlers on commission basis.
On February 6, India’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) recovered 1.3 kilograms of fine quality Colombian cocaine stashed in 90 capsules from the stomach of a Nigerian , who had come to Delhi from Lome, Togo.
According to The Times of India, the accused was taken to hospital where an X-ray confirmed the presence of foreign bodies in his stomach.
He was kept in the hospital for two days during which he expelled 90 capsules containing 1.3kg cocaine.
The Nigerian was identified as Monday Tony Okonkwo. He arrived IGI airport in an Ethiopian Airlines plane on February 6.
In January, a Nigerian drug convict, John Okoro, who fled from police custody was re-arrested.
Okoro, 35, was re-arrested by the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) of Mumbai police.
ANC sources told The Times of India that Okoro was arrested from the Navi Mumbai area, from where he was planning to flee to Mangalore by a private bus.
Police source said Okoro, who resided in Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai, was arrested in 2014 in a drug case.
The court convicted him for a three-year jail term. Okoro was sent to Nashik central prison after conviction. He was billed for deportation when he jumped out of his detention centre.
