Nigerian Among Four Held In Drug Smuggling Case

The Rachakonda police on Tuesday nabbed three members of an international drug smugglers' gang, including a Nigerian.

Speaking to media persons, Rachakonda Police Commissioner Mahesh Bhagwat said that the leader of the gang was identified as Nigerian Mark Olabi, who had landed in Mumbai in 2012 on a visa and was overstaying after its expiry.

His accomplices Thota Harshavardhan, Duddu Pawan Kumar and Swami Prasad were also arrested.

The police also seized 38 gram of cocaine, three two-wheelers, Rs 22,000 in cash, a digital weighing machine and a mobile phone from them.

The Commissioner said that the main accused Olabi was residing in Paramount Colony in Banjara Hills, and had changed his name to Fedlar. He had become a slave to drugs, and was procuring drugs in Delhi and selling them in Hyderabad. He had a history of arrests, having been arrested by the Narsingi police in 2018 for overstaying, then in 2019 in Ameerpet in a drug case by the excise police, and again by the Golconda police in 2021 in another drugs case.

The other three arrested accused were his friends, Bhagwat said, adding that one more accused, a degree student, was still on the run.

All the arrested accused were being booked under Preventive Detention Act, the Commissioner said.