International drug cartel busted, 5 Nigerian nationals nabbed

With the arrest of five Nigerian nationals, the Delhi Police on Friday claimed to have busted an international drug cartel being run from West Africa. They also confiscated drugs worth over Rs 100 crore in the international market.

A suspicious parcel containing suits and ladies footwear led the police to the drug cartel. The cops claimed it to be one of the biggest drug seizures in recent times in the national capital.

The drug cartel was being run in the form of ordering food delivery where buyers used to call to place orders. A request was then processed at a call centre based abroad and messages through encrypted channels like WhatsApp would be sent to foreign nationals based in India.

Later, narcotics substances concealed inside parcels containing items such as clothes and footwear was delivered to customers.

The arrest led to the seizure of over 2.7 kg of high-grade cocaine, over one kg of MDMA (a party drug), and a similar quantity of ganja — all linked to this global cartel, which had set up dispatch logistics like food delivery for drugs across Indian cities.

Moreover, the syndicate has its presence in several nations such as Malaysia, New Zealand, Australia, Japan and the United Kingdom, said Mangesh Kashyap, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).

Callistus, alias Kallis, is the mastermind of the transnational drug trafficking syndicate. Kameni Philipp, his associate in India, used to distribute cocaine, adulterated in a 1:4 ratio to make it street-grade, in parts of South Delhi with help of Kelechi Chikwe, Ibechinedu Austin and Kaulaie Phillippe. They all had been arrested, said Kashyap.

Giving details about the narcotics substances being smuggled to the country, the ACP said the syndicate used to import pure grade Colombian cocaine using female Indian nationals as carriers due to their lower risk profile at international borders in couriers concealed in their baggage.

On being entered in the country, the consignment was received by Kameni Philipp, India operations head and nephew of Kallis, who used to further supply it to distributors like Godwin John, alias Adore.

Adore chemically adulterated the pure cocaine in a 1:4 ratio using neutral cutting agents, transforming 1 kg of pure cocaine into approximately 5 kg of street-grade cocaine. From here, the cocaine was distributed to other operatives who used to deliver it to the customers.

Kashyap said the handlers in Nigeria maintained centralised customer databases, ensuring that if a foot soldier was arrested, he could be quickly replaced without loss of customer data or disruption to operations.

The delivery agents followed a uniform dress code - checked shirts and black helmets - to maintain consistency and customer recognition during handovers.

Additionally, the syndicate had also established local MDMA manufacturing units in India and exported the substance to various countries, including Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Japan and the United Kingdom, through international courier services.

The ACP mentioned that they had developed a Hawala-like module named ‘Naira’ (having equal value as rupee) and Indians residing in Nigeria who wished to send money to India paid the amount to the syndicate and the money collected through sale of drugs was given to such families in India.

They used to charge a commission of 3-5 per cent on each such transaction. The syndicate collected over 85 crore ‘Naira’ in the last six months through this process, Kashyap said.