Drug cartel exploiting student visas busted in Delhi; heroin worth over Rs 1 crore seized

New Delhi: Delhi Police has busted an international drug cartel allegedly targeting students by bringing African nationals to India on the pretext of pursuing education and using them to peddle heroin worth over Rs 1 crore, an official said on Friday.

Two foreign nationals, identified as Humphrey Muwong (33) from Uganda and Chukwu Ebuka Umeh (36) from Nigeria, have been arrested and 700 grams of high-grade heroin worth over Rs 1 crore has been seized, he said.

The official said that the two accused were allegedly part of a larger cartel working under the instructions of Dagri Jean Marc, a Nigerian national based in Africa.

Marc brought African nationals into India under the guise of pursuing education and then deployed them in the narcotics trade, he added.

Marc, who had previously lived in India, is believed to have built a strong narcotics distribution network operating from Tilak Nagar, a senior police officer said.

The cartel reportedly misused student visas as a cover for illegal activities, bringing African nationals to India under the guise of pursuing higher education at private universities in Delhi-NCR and Punjab, police said.

“On April 3, after a 20-hour-long watch-and-wait operation at Krishna Park Extension in New Mahavir Nagar, the two accused were nabbed and 700 grams of heroin was recovered from their possession,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime, Vikram Singh.

The interrogation of the accused revealed that the duo was working under Marc's instructions.

“Muwong, a mechanical engineer by profession, had previously been arrested under the NDPS Act in 2023 and was out on bail. Muwong and Umeh have been living in India since 2019,” the DCP said.

A case under sections 21, 61, and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was registered at the Crime Branch Police Station, he added.

Further investigations are underway to trace other operatives and dismantle the cartel’s full network, police said.