Nigerian drug peddler held, has 108 clients in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad police on Friday arrested an international drug peddler while he was waiting for his clients to supply 30 grams of MDMA worth Rs 2 lakh in Narayanguda here.The accused, Osigwe Chukuemeka, who broke away from a drug syndicate headed by a Nigerian kingpin started his own and has ever since been supplying MMDA to his clients in Goa and Hyderabad.The police arrested him after zeroing in on 63 consumers of a total of 108 of his clients.

Central Zone DCP Rajesh Chandra said: “Osigwe Chukwuemeka James, 37, a Nigerian national, came to India in November 2021, using a fake passport in the name of  Alamanjo Nmasichukwuand. It is yet to be found out how many fake passports he is in possession and his method of shipment of drugs into India.”
Osigwe who made his way into India has been running his drug business in Goa and Hyderabad and was arrested by the Goa police in March 2022 but was released on bail three months later. When he came to the city to supply drugs to his clients, the police, on a tip-off, apprehended him.

During the investigation, it was found that he has 108 clients in Hyderabad alone.His clients comprised mostly engineering students but there are clients from other walks of life.The police who found WhatsApp groups on his mobiles gathered all the phone numbers available on them. They are yet to trace the consumers as it is yet to be ascertained if the contact details were genuine. Of the 108 clients’ numbers, the police have short-listed 63 phone numbers and they are in the process of contacting them.The police said the accused had confessed to peddling drugs, using a fake passport to arrive in India, and the contact list on his phones as being that of his clients. The police seized Rs 19.2 lakh cash from his possession.