The police found out that the Nigerians use one of their local dialects to communicate with one another, and have established a drug network all over India.
Task Force sleuths on Tuesday nabbed a Nigerian national on charges of selling cocaine to youth and for staying in the country without a valid visa, and seized 210 grams of high-quality cocaine worth Rs. 10 lakhs from his possession.
Addressing a press conference, city Police Commissioner A K Khan said that the accused, 27-year-old Okechukwu Ohazurike, has been staying in Defence Colony, Sainikpuri (Secunderabad) and hailed from Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria .
Khan said that the accused had come in contact with some Nigerian drug peddlers operating in different countries, and joined them by first going to South Africa, and later came to India in June 2009 on a 4-month visit visa. He was accompanied by one Tony, an Ugandan national during this visit.
Ohazurike took up residence at Sainikpuri, and has been overstaying his visit since then.
The police found out that the Nigerians use one of their local dialects to communicate with one another, and have established a drug network all over India, especially in metropolitan cities.
The accused came to India pretending to be a student, and become part of an already existing network of operatives.
Tony, who was already operating in Hyderabad, had introduced the accused to his clientele.
One person identified as De Romo, who is a major supplier in their network, has been supplying him cocaine for the past one year.
The accused was purchasing narcotics and psychotropic substances from De Romo, who usually stays in Mumbai, for Rs. 2,000 per gram, and would sell it for Rs. 5000 to Rs. 7000 per gram.
During the last one year, he developed acquaintances with potential customers, and was rapidly expanding his network.
Interrogation of the accused revealed that he was delivering cocaine to his clientele in the twin cities and to the outskirts of the city.
The Police Commissioner said that Ohazurike's clientele appears to include the rich and the young, successful entrepreneurs, business scions and high-salaried professionals, who start to 'do' cocaine as a fashion statement and then discover that it is a euphoric way to de-stress and extend party hours.
The changing dynamics between parents and teenagers has also resulted in an air of leniency and a marked increase in the consumption of drugs. Rich parents use money as a surrogate for affection. Their reaction to drug use by their kids is usually denial.
Khan revealed that a Special Team of city police had started working out the available leads for the past fortnight by keeping surveillance over the suspected drug addicts at colleges, pubs and hotels. It led to the collection of actionable intelligence, following which a trap was laid and the accused being apprehended while selling the drug near Jubilee Bus Stand.
The follow-up raid and search of the house of the accused at Sainikpuri led to the recovery of about 210 grams of high quality cocaine.
Further investigations are being conducted to unearth his network with other local and international drug peddlers. Similarly, surveillance will be intensified at pubs, bars and restaurants and hotels, to check this activity in the twin cities.
Courtesy: INN