‘Drop boxes’ at INA Market, two cargo cos used to move meth

NOIDA: Meth manufactured in two houses in Greater Noida was routed to 'drop boxes' in Delhi, from where it was picked up by carriers before making its way into consignments that were dispatched via two cargo Delhi-based companies, police have said after questioning 13 foreigners arrested so far for running an MDA enterprise that managed to evade the radar since 2021.
The 'drop boxes' were specific locations at INA market, Noida police commissioner Laxmi Singh told TOI. The meth, she added, would change hands "on a blind-exchange basis", ensuring the person picking it up and the one making the delivery never met.

Around 75kg of methamphetamine worth Rs 350 crore was confiscated by police from their raids at the two Greater Noida houses at Theta-2 and Mitra Enclave in Beta-2 on May 17 and May 30, respectively. Of the 13 arrested, 12 are Nigerian nationals and one is Senegalese.
"The kingpin had deployed a foreigner to sell garments outside Dilli Haat, who kept a watch on the consignments (being dropped and picked up). They transported the drugs through cargo companies located near Dilli Haat," Singh said. "We are checking their shipments," she added.
TOI had earlier reported that the meth was stitched into garments and sent to ports from where they made it to foreign shores.
The kingpin, sources said, is either based in Nigeria or Senegal and operates here through his main associate at Khirki Extension in south Delhi. All the suspects arrested took direction from this associate, who also took away their passports. The 13 arrested are Emmanu, Anudum Emmanuel, Ajoku Ubaka, Daniel Azuh, Levi Uzochukw, Jacob Emefiele, Kofie, Chidi Ijiagwa, Ajoku Klechi, Simon, Kesiena Remy and Igwe Solomon (all from Nigeria), and Dramemond.
Most of them landed in India during the pandemic on multiple-entry business visas. Police have sought help from the Fingerprint Bureau, which collects information from foreigners, for access to their full visa information.
"The accused were trained how to cook meth in a lab. The training included procurement of chemicals, storing them and using specific combinations to produce the drug. They were also taught to find clients via the dark net," DCP (Greater Noida) Saad Miya Khan said.
In the two labs they had set up at the Greater Noida houses they had rented, the gang was cooking high-quality meth, police had earlier told TOI. The gang offered a monthly rent of Rs 40,000-45,000 a month, so getting a house wasn't a problem. The ephedrine needed to cook meth was sourced from a chemical factory in Sonipat, TOI had reported earlier.
Khan, who led the police team that busted the gang, said, "We have evidence to believe that earnings from this illegal trade was being routed through two shell companies - one that claimed to be an agricultural fertiliser exports firm and the other a garments exporter. The role of some Indian citizens is also being probed. They were appointed directors in the shell companies. We cannot believe that there was 100% dependency on Delhi and on cargo. They would sell to foreign clients, local vendors, the black market, so there are different ways. They did not sell only through clothes, they also used medicines," Khan said, adding the shell companies didn't have offices and police had traced some of the foreign bank accounts where money was sent.