Delhi Police bust drug syndicate, arrest 3 foreign nationals with commercial quantity of Amphetamine

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) In a major breakthrough under the ongoing drive against narcotics and as part of the ‘Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan’, Delhi Police have busted an alleged drug trafficking network involving three persons, including two foreign nationals found overstaying in India, and recovered a commercial quantity of Amphetamine, officials said on Tuesday.

According to police, the operation was carried out by a team from Patel Nagar Police Station following specific intelligence regarding the alleged supply of narcotic substances in the area.

Officials said that on June 25, the police received reliable secret information indicating that a foreign national was actively involved in supplying drugs in the Patel Nagar area of the national capital.

Acting promptly on the input, a dedicated raiding team comprising SI Dharmender, SI Piyush, SI Umesh, Head Constable Mukesh, Constable Ajay and Constable Sandeep was constituted under the leadership of Inspector Naveen Kumar, SHO of Patel Nagar Police Station, under the close supervision of ACP Sunil Kumar.

The police team laid a strategic trap near the Shadipur Flyover and successfully apprehended one suspect. During the search, 54 grams of Amphetamine were allegedly recovered from his possession.

Officials said that sustained interrogation of the accused and subsequent follow-up action led to multiple raids at Nihal Vihar and Nilothi, resulting in the arrest of two more alleged associates.

With the latest arrests, a total of three accused have been taken into custody, and police said a commercial quantity of Amphetamine was recovered during the operation.

The accused have been identified as Prince (22), a resident of Nihal Vihar in Delhi and a native of Cape Town, South Africa. According to police, he had arrived in India in 2023 on a medical/tourist visa, which expired in March 2026. Officials alleged that he remained in the country illegally after his visa expired.

The second accused, identified as Efosa Mikel Atohan alias Leon (24), is a resident of Uttam Nagar in Delhi and a native of Benin City, Nigeria. Police said he had come to India in 2019 on a study visa, which expired in 2023, following which he allegedly overstayed without valid documentation.

The third accused, Justin Chukuwa (36), is a resident of Nilothi in Delhi. According to police, he has been residing in India since birth. Officials said his father is a Nigerian national while his mother is an Indian citizen.

During sustained interrogation, the accused allegedly disclosed that they are of Nigerian origin and were engaged in the import and export of fabrics between India and Nigeria as their ostensible business activity.

Police further claimed that the accused revealed their involvement in procuring and supplying Amphetamine to consumers across different parts of Delhi in exchange for monetary gain.

According to investigators, the three accused were allegedly working in coordination to procure, store and distribute the narcotic substance through an organised network.

Verification conducted by the police further revealed that the visas of the two foreign nationals had expired and that they had continued to reside in India illegally after the validity of their travel documents had ended.

Officials said the matter has been brought to the notice of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), while verification regarding the exact dates of visa expiry and related documentation is also being carried out.

Police said efforts are underway to identify and apprehend both the source of the narcotics and the intended recipients of the recovered contraband.

Investigators are also examining the accused’s financial transactions, mobile phone records, digital evidence and possible interstate as well as international linkages in an effort to unravel the entire drug trafficking network.

Further investigation into the case is underway, officials added.

–IANS

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