NEW DELHI: Three African nationals were arrested in Dwarka for allegedly running an international drug syndicate and heroin worth Rs 13 crore was seized from their possession, said police. Stanley Chimeize Alasonye (41), the mastermind of the drug syndicate, Henry Okolie (41) and Uchechukwu Peter Igbonaju (37) were arrested with 1 kg and 300 gram of heroin, they said.
According to the police, the gang was recently active in Uttam Nagar and Mohan Garden. The accused were intruders and lived without valid visas, they said. The contraband was smuggled in the country from Nigeria via Russia through Indian ports, the police said.
Dwarka DCP Shankar Choudhary said based on a tip-off, the police laid a trap in Mohan Garden on October 1 and arrested Okolie and Igbonaju with 1 kg heroin.
During interrogation, they told the police that the contraband came from Africa through Russia and then it reached India, the officer said. The accused said that some times, the narcotic drug was smuggled into the country from Bangladesh and Nepal.
"Big vendors contacted the retailers through virtual numbers and supplied the drugs at the retailer's locations. The arrested African nationals rented two rooms on different floors in the Mohan Garden area. They lived on the ground floor and had set up a factory on the top floor, from where chemicals and instruments used in mixing heroin were seized," the DCP said.
Accused Alasonye was arrested on October 4 with 300 gms of heroin being seized from his possession, he said.