Indian Police Arrest Nigerian Drug Peddler For Third Time

File photo: Indian police

The Rachakonda police in India have arrested four drug peddlers, including a Nigerian national identified as Mark Owolabi. 

The police said it also recovered 38 grammes of cocaine from the possession of the suspected drug peddlers on Tuesday, Times of India reports.

Special operations Team (SOT) detectives arrested Owolabi, 41, who arrived in Mumbai in 2012 on a business visa; T. Harshavardian, 23; a B Com final year student from Neredmet, D. Pavan Kumar, 21; and G. Swami Prasad, 23, an unemployed youngster from Neredmet, at Gokul Nagar in Neredmet.

The detectives also seized Rs 22, 000 cash (about N122,000), three two-wheelers, four cellphones and a digital weighing machine, all worth Rs 9 lakh (about N5 million) from the accused. Another accused Abhishek Singh is absconding.

According to Rachakonda CP Mahesh Bhagwat, Mark, who became a habitual drug peddler, has settled down in Hyderabad a few years ago. Since 2018, Mark has been arrested three times under the Foreigners Act and NDPS Act cases by Narsingi law and order, Ameerpet excise and Golconda excise detectives.

“Mark was last released from prison on September 24, 2021. He again started peddling in drugs. He is charging Rs 10,000 (about N56,000) to Rs 15,000 (about N84,000) per one gramme of cocaine from customers,” Bhagwat said.

The other accused are friends and they were introduced to Mark by a friend of Abhishek who met the Nigerian in prison. They started procuring cocaine from Mark to sell to known people for profit. During the interrogation, Mark confessed that he has been procuring cocaine from unidentified persons in Delhi.