KOCHI: Having intensified efforts to find the local network involved in the distribution of drugs like cocaine in Kerala through Nigerian smugglers, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officers suspect the involvement of key persons from the network in the operations of a Nigerian woman caught from Kochi.
Ifeoma Queen Anozie, 33, settled in Thane, near Mumbai, was coordinating drug smuggling using Nigerian carriers. A DRI officer told TNIE that the agency is collecting more information on Anozie who was caught four months back when she arrived from Mumbai to provide assistance to another Nigerian woman identified as Kane Simpou Julie (21).
The latter had landed at the Kochi airport with a cocaine consignment valued at Rs 5.5 crore. In her bail application, Anozie had submitted before a court here that she had come to Kochi to help Julie reach a relative’s house in Delhi, and that she was forced to give a statement that she came to get the consignment.
DRI opposed it, submitting that Anozie was instrumental in the drug smuggling network by actively associating with Julie.“She is part of an international drug cartel that smuggles narcotic substances from African countries to India for huge monetary gains. Key persons involved in drug trafficking are still at large. Efforts are being made to identify and apprehend them,” the DRI officer said.