The Punjab Police on Tuesday arrested a Nigerian national, whom it said was a ‘big fish’ involved in narcotic smuggling.
The accused was nabbed with 2 kilogram of heroin estimated to be worth Rs 1.8 crore.
In 2018, as many as 20 cases were registered against foreigners under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and 24 Africans including 42 Nigerians were arrested.
The police said that the accused, Frank Margin (27), was in touch with several Afghan nationals in Delhi and Afghanistan for the supply of contraband to drug smugglers in the national capital and Punjab.
Frank, who was residing in Delhi, headed a gang of drug smugglers all of whom were African nationals, Swapan Sharma, SSP Rupnagar, said on Tuesday.
Investigation revealed that Frank was in regular touch with more than 25 drug peddlers in various districts of Punjab.
Sharma said the police investigation was now focused on cracking the modus operandi of the gang whose main area of operation recently had been in Chander Vihara, Uttam Nagar and Dwarka areas of Delhi.
Data available with Punjab Police shows that in 2017, as many as 39 cases had been registered against foreigners under the NDPS Act, with 50 Africans, including as many as 42 Nigerians, arrested in these cases.
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