CHENNAI: The Anti-Narcotics Intelligence Unit (ANIU) on Saturday arrested a Sudanese man and a Nigerian national in connection with an expanding methamphetamine supply network operating across Tamil Nadu. With this, the number of foreign nationals arrested in narcotics cases in the city since August 2024 has risen to 29.
ANIU and Vanagaram police picked up Mohant Movia Abdul Rahman, a native of Atbara, Sudan, currently residing in Bengaluru, and Nazi Lota Chukwu Emmanuel (27) of Nigeria. Police seized three mobile phones and a sum of Rs 1.41 lakh from them. Investigators said the duo was linked to a cartel supplying methamphetamine to local peddlers. Both were remanded after interrogation.
The arrests are part of a sustained crackdown in which city police have so far detained 26 Nigerians, a Cameroonian and two Sudanese nationals.
The enforcement drive traces back to a September 18 surveillance operation at Porur tollgate, where ANIU arrested Saranraj (36), Rekshit Regginmon (23) and Jamuna Kumar (27) with 13 g of methamphetamine, 150 g of ganja, two phones and a two-wheeler. Their interrogation led to the arrest of four absconding suspects on September 21 -- Pawankumar (38), Hasik Pasha (30), Arumugam (42) and Prabhakaran (35) from whom police recovered 5 g of methamphetamine, 12 MDMA tablets, two phones and a digital scale.
Officials said efforts are underway to track the remaining members of the network and map the cartel’s supply routes.