A 38-year-old Nigerian national, who’s suspected to have supplied drugs to parties attended by celebrities and VIPs, has been arrested as part of the ongoing crackdown on narcotics.
The Central Crime Branch (CCB) described Benald Uddena as “a prized catch”. He’s the second African to be arrested in the drugs case after Senegalese national Loum Pepper Samba.
Sandeep Patil, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), said Uddena was a “big-time” drug peddler who supplied contraband to parties attended by celebrities and others arrested recently. Police zeroed in on him after the names of three African drug peddlers cropped up during the investigation. The CCB learnt that it was Uddena who operated under three names: Blackie, Coke and John.
“The arrested suspects had saved the peddlers’ names. We thought they were different people. But when we introduced Benald to them, all of them testified that it was only him. He had given them different names,” Patil explained. Uddena has been taken into police custody for questioning.
Another officer who’s part of the investigation said Uddena came to India two years ago on a business visa. A resident of Palanahalli near Yelahanka, he claimed to be doing garment business in Bengaluru. When asked about the visa, he reportedly showed the CCB a photocopy of the document, which shows it’s valid until November 28, 2020. “We have to verify the original document,” the officer said.
The CCB said it had seized 12 grams of cocaine and three SIM cards from Uddena. The SIM cards were registered under different names on fake documents, the officer said. Uddena has been arrested in the drugs case registered at the Cottonpet police station.
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