Nigerian held with cocaine worth Rs 6.12 crore

A Nigerian man, suspected to be a member of an international drug cartel, has been arrested from suburban Khar for allegedly possessing high-quality cocaine worth Rs 6.12 crore, an Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) official said on Tuesday.

On a tip-off, ANC sleuths laid a trap near Khar telephone exchange on the new link road Monday night and nabbed the accused identified as Bonavenchure Nzubechukwu Nwude (35).

He is currently staying at Koparkhairane in Navi Mumbai.

"Nwude used to receive the contraband from Delhi international airport from his aides and visit Mumbai to sell it. The seized cocaine is around 96 per cent pure," said DCP, ANC, Shivdeep Lande.

Nwude had picked up the cocaine parcel from a Mozambique national in Delhi.

"This drug cartel is being run from African countries whose members used to visit India to deliver the contrabands. They hide the drug capsules in their abdomen by swallowing them," he said.

Another official said Nwude had visited India between 2002 and 2004 also for delivering drugs.

He was scheduled to go to Taiwan from Mumbai

The ANC had arrested other members of the drug cartel from the city in the past.

"One of the accused, who was arrested from Goa earlier, seems to be linked to the same cartel," the official said, adding that an investigation is underway.