TGANB busts international drugs racket; two nigerians, forex agent held

Hyderabad: In a major breakthrough, Cyberabad Narcotics Police and Telangana Anti Narcotic Bureau (TGANB) sleuths disrupted a drug racket and arrested two Nigerians and a forex agent on Saturday by breaking the money trail and preventing drug money laundering in Upparpally.

The TGANB officials seized 15 grams Cocaine, 50 grams MDMA, Rs 45,000 and other incriminating material from the possession of the accused.

Two Nigerians arrested

Disclosing the case details before the media persons at Integrated Command Control Center (ICCC), Banjara Hills here, TGANB director Sandeep Shandilya said that the two Nigerians arrested were part of a global drug racket handled by Ebuka aka Lebuka aka Emmanuel aka Level aka Divine Ebuka Suzee from Nigeria who was earlier residing in Hyderabad and developed global drug network.

The accused were not only indulging in the supply of various drugs like Cocaine and MDMA in Hyderabad, Bangalore but also in the US. The main kingpin of this racket is Ebuka Suzee who earlier came to India on Tourist Visa and developed his base of supplying drugs in Hyderabad and Bangalore assisted by his brother Ezeonyili Franklin Uchenna aka Keleshi.

During this period, he came into contact with the accused Ugwu Ikechukwu aka Emma aka Gaelle Musungay Ntumba aka John Cole aka Arnold aka Roy and Chukwu Ogbonna aka Big Joe aka Peace with You who were assisting him in the delivery of the drugs.

Ebuka Suzee also was assisted by two more Nigerians Chidiebere Ubah aka Nwa Chukwu aka Sharon and Okafor Paul Chukwunweike aka Chuks who had customer base in US and through Ebuka Suzee they were supplying Cocaine and other drugs to their customers in US, the TGANB director said.

Background of this case:

From 2010 to till date a total of 260 drug peddlers were caught and sent to jail by Telangana Police. But this did not deter these drug peddlers to either stop their drug business, nor the arrest reduced the flow of various drugs into Telangana, especially Hyderabad.

When a drug peddler was arrested, one or the other associate of his was taking his place and continuing the trade. So it was required that an intensive analysis of the flow of drugs into the state from various sources, identifying the main handlers, transporters, intermediate peddlers and consumers had to be taken up.

The flow of money outside India for payments to be made to international drug suppliers and repatriating the profit to Foreign Countries unearthing this gained much more importance. Cocaine, MDMA, Ecstasy Pills are smuggled into India by the foreign drug cartels by hiding inside persons or by courier or by container services.

Modus Operandi

Explaining the modus operandi of the accused, Sandeep Shandilya said that in order to get back the payments made by the US customers, on the instructions of Ebuka Suzee, Emma trapped US single woman and took their bank account/credit card numbers and gave them to the customers in US who used to deposit the money towards drug purchase in their accounts.

Later Emma contacted Mateen, Proprietor of Fine Multiple Service, Old Malakpet, Hyderabad who provided some bank accounts of Indians staying in the US by collecting from Anand Jain, Goyam Forex. The US woman used to transfer the money through money transfer services and deposit in the US bank accounts of Indian and Mateen used to pay cash to Emma.

Money Trail:

Elaborating further, the TGANB director said that for the drug supplies in Hyderabad, Ebuka never used to directly take money from the consumers. On his advice Emma developed friendship with Mateen, who supplied bank accounts to the consumers and after they deposit the money in that account, Mateen will pay in cash to Emma after deducting his commission.

Emma developed friendships with US women via dating sites and social media platforms, primarily divorced women, on Ebuka's advice for drug sales in the United States. Later, he will collect these US women's bank and credit card information and give it to Ebuka. After US customers deposit money in the bank accounts of US women, they move it using money transfer services.

When the money is huge i.e, more than 2500$ it is not possible to send it through money transfer services. So, on the request of Emma, Mateen contacted Anand Jain of Goyam Forex who provided US Bank accounts & Zelle Pay accounts of Indians staying in the US. A US woman after getting the money from US customers will directly transfer the money in the US bank accounts of Indians and send the payment details to Emma. Emma will contact Mateen and Matten will contact Anand Jain.

On seeing the confirmation, Anand will contact the relatives of the US Indians into whose accounts the money is deposited and collect equivalent INR cash from their relatives. Anand after deducting his commission will hand over the balance to Mateen and Mateen after deducting his commission will hand over the cash to Emma.

Emma will take his commission and give the balance to Big Joe. Since everyone in this chain knows that the money is diverted through illegal sources, they take double the commission. Anand Jain takes 50 Paisa per hundred rupees instead of 25 Paisa per hundred rupees for hawala transactions. Earlier above he was caught by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Diversion of Money to Nigeria

After Emma collects the money from Mateen and Naseer, she will give it to Big Joe, who would take it to Mumbai and deliver it over to one Nwabueze Kenechukwu Victor. Daniel and Malik know several Nigerian businesspeople who work in the clothing industry and have sent the funds to them.

"Everyone in this chain, including the forex agents, takes their commission knowing that it is illegal to receive money from the US through different channels, and this is how the money earned by the drug sales is illegally diverted through different sources," Shandilya stated.

Appeal to the public and money service agents:

The police asked residents, hotel staff, money service providers, forex traders, SIM card sellers, and others to be on the lookout for unusual activity in their neighborhood, particularly by foreigners, and to report it to the authorities.

Importance of updating FSIS for foreign nationals

As of now 371 foreign students are reported to be overstaying their visas in Telangana and 18,298 foreign students’ details are missing from the FSIS due to lack of updates from educational institutions.

Beyond student visas, regular updates for business and medical visas are necessary. Accurate records are essential for compliance with regulations and it is mandatory for all educational institutions, hospitals, and relevant entities to regularly update the exit status of foreign nationals, the TGANB director said.