An international drug cartel allegedly targeting students by bringing African nationals to India on the pretext of pursuing education and using them to peddle heroin worth Rs 1 crore was busted by the Delhi Police, an official said on Friday.
The foreign nationals have been identified as Humphrey Muwong, 33, from Uganda and Chukwu Ebuka Umeh, 36, from Nigeria. They have been arrested and 700 grams of high-grade heroin worth over Rs 1 crore has been seized, police said.
According to the initial investigation, the duo was part of a larger drug trafficking cartel allegedly operated by a person named Dagri Jean Marc, a Nigerian national currently based in Africa. Marc is believed to have facilitated the entry of African nationals into India under the pretense of higher education, later deploying them in the narcotics trade.
“On April 3, after a 20-hour-long watch-and-wait operation at Krishna Park Extension in New Mahavir Nagar, the two accused were nabbed and 700 grams of heroin was recovered from their possession,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Crime, Vikram Singh.
Marc, who had previously resided in India, is suspected of establishing a well-organized drug distribution network in Delhi’s Tilak Nagar. The cartel reportedly misused student visas to bring individuals into India to operate in Delhi-NCR and Punjab under the cover of studying at private universities.
During interrogation, the accused admitted to working under Marc’s direction. Muwong, a mechanical engineer by profession, had previously been arrested under the NDPS Act in 2023 and was out on bail. Both men had been living in India since 2019.
A case has been registered under Sections 21, 61, and 85 of the NDPS Act at the Crime Branch Police Station. Further investigation is ongoing to identify other members and dismantle the cartel’s network, police added.
(With inputs from PTI)
