International drug racket busted, Nigerian, 2 others held

MUMBAI: The city police on Saturday claimed to have busted an international drug racket operating from Goa by arresting three people, including a Nigerian, and seized over one kg of cocaine worth over Rs five crore in the international market.

"Acting on specific information, we arrested two persons, Pravin Satardekar (28) and Babus Fernandes (24), in possession of 1 kg of cocaine on June 18 from Mumbai," a top police official said.

They were merely delivery agents and the main person, Blessing Muiywa Tunde (37), a Nigerian was caught while he came to collect the money on June 21, Anti-Terrorism Squad chief KP Raghuvanshi said on Saturday.

Tunde had come from Goa and $7,000, some Indian currency and 20 grams of cocaine were seized from him, he said, adding that the Nigerian national had arrived in India in April on a tourist visa.

When asked if the case represented a shift in trends in the drug trade involving Africans, as Mumbai has always been considered to be nerve-centre of their activities, Raghuvanshi said, "A large number of Africans have been found to be operating from Goa."

Raghuvanshi said the seized cocaine is very high in quality and was meant for consumption by affluent people in parties and pubs.

Pravin and Babus hail from Sawantwadi town on the Maharashtra-Goa border and have been remanded to police custody till June 25 while Tunde has been remanded to police custody till June 30.