TGANB tracks international drug cartel cash to Goa: Rs 50 lakh found stuffed in washing machine

Hyderabad: Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) has unearthed a key link in an international drug cartel’s money laundering operation, leading to the dramatic seizure of Rs 50 lakh stashed inside a washing machine in a Goa apartment.

The breakthrough came after weeks of surveillance and wiretaps led officials to Highland Park, a residential complex in Goa. The flat—modest and nondescript—was moments away from becoming the latest node in a cross-border money laundering chain stretching from India to Nigeria.

“We had been tracking the suspect for weeks,” recalled TGANB director Sandeep Shandilya, who supervised the operation. “If we had reached even an hour late, the entire Rs 50 lakh would have been moved through the hawala network to Nigeria. It was all packed and hidden inside a washing machine, ready to be dispatched.”

The trail begins

The operation was set in motion after the arrest of Nigerian national Emmanuel Bediako, also known as Maxwell, who spilt the beans on the hawala trail used to siphon drug money out of India. Acting on this tip, the TGANB—with support from Goa Police—launched a covert operation to monitor hawala activities in Mapusa.

Surveillance teams zeroed in on a seemingly ordinary mobile phone shop, Sangeetha Mobiles, run by the key accused, Uttam T Singh. Investigators soon discovered that the shop was merely a front.

“Foreign nationals would hand over large sums of cash to Uttam,” Shandilya said. “He would then move it through informal networks to Mumbai, and from there, it was sent abroad—mostly to Nigeria.”

Rs 2.1 crore in just one week

Between May 26 and June 1, officials tracked 58 hawala transactions totalling Rs 2.1 crore, all linked to drug sales. Uttam’s role was pivotal: in just one week, he allegedly moved over Rs 2 crore in cash, acting as a conduit between drug suppliers and foreign handlers.

The final raid on the Highland Park apartment confirmed what officials had feared—a professional-grade money-laundering setup was operating in the heart of Goa’s residential sector.

Network still active

With four Nigerian nationals already arrested and more suspects under surveillance, investigators now believe Uttam is part of a wider hawala ring operating across Indian cities.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg,” a senior official said. “We are now investigating links in Mumbai, Hyderabad and possibly Delhi. The cartel’s reach is far deeper than we initially assumed.”

The case is being touted as one of TGANB’s most significant operations to date, not only for the money seized but for exposing the machinery that sustains international narcotics trade in India.