Five Nigerians arrested in India for ‘drug, human trafficking’

Five Nigerians have been arrested by the Indian police for alleged drug trafficking.

The Nigerians – Cosmas Ojukwu, 30; John Okorie, 26; Okereke Cyril Anezi, 31; John Paul Onyebuchi, 34 and Ogunka Henry Okechukwu, 31 – were arrested for allegedly being in possession of a wide variety of drugs, including cocaine, brown sugar and amphetamine.

NAN, quoting the Times of India, reports that they were also accused of human trafficking by way of offering Nigerian girls into prostitution.

They were arrested by the Rachakonda police in Hyderabad alongside Palaparthi Sangeetha, 35, their Indian accomplice.

Anezi is said to be the president of Nigerians in Hyderabad and also a student of Nizam College together with Okorie.

Sangeetha and Onyebuchi were first to be arrested – at a bus stop on Sunday “with three grams of cocaine and 200 grams of ganja in their possession”.

“Based on Sangeetha and Onyebuchi’s confessions, police raided Ojukwu’s flat and arrested him having 10 grams of cocaine, 12 grams of brown sugar, 37 blue amphetamine tablets and 40 pink amphetamine tablets, a laptop, 1.54 lakh cash, three cell phones and an Activa vehicle in his possession,” the report said.

Mahesh Bhagawat, Rachakonda commissioner of police, said Cosmas has been procuring drugs from his friend Gabriel, “who operates from Goa and Hyderabad. He supplied drugs through Sangeetha, John Paul and Henry”.

Through his confession, the police reportedly raided the house of Okorie, Onyebuchi and Okechukwu and seized “seven grams of cocaine, 300 grams of ganja, Rs 50,000 cash, laptop and cell phones from their possession”.

The newspaper further said the total drugs and amounts of money seized are 20 grams of cocaine, 12 grams of brown sugar, 39.8 grams amphetamine tablets and pieces, 1.675 kg of ganja and Rs 2 lakh cash.

Onyebuchi and Okechukwu reportedly confessed that in addition to peddling drugs, they also trafficked Nigerian women to customers in Kushaiguda and Neredmet areas.

The commissioner of police was also quoted to have said the Indian visas of Ojukwu, Onyebuchi and Okechukwu had expired years ago.

“John Paul was arrested twice by Mapusa police of Goa in 2016 for illegal stay and drug peddling. Despite knowing about all this, Cyril knowingly provided him shelter at his rented flat in Yapral,” he said.

Cosmas, who came to India in 2012, reportedly has links with drug peddlers operating in Goa, Mumbai and Chennai.