Drugs worth over Rs 21 lakh seized in Navi Mumbai; Nigerian held

Thane, Dec 18 (PTI) The Navi Mumbai police have recovered drugs, including mephedrone and MDMA, worth at least Rs 21 lakh and arrested a Nigerian man in connection with it, officials have said.

During a routine patrol on December 15, a police team spotted a foreign national standing suspiciously near a scooter on the Palm Beach Road. Seeing the cops, the man abandoned the vehicle and fled.

Police later recovered 70 grams of mephedrone powder valued at nearly Rs 17 lakh, along with 120 MDMA tablets, an official release said on Wednesday.

The man, a Nigerian national, was subsequently arrested from his residence at Koparkhairane. Police also recovered mephedrone powder worth around Rs 4 lakh and 40 “purple MDMA tablets” from there, said the release.

While the seized mephedrone powder is collectively worth over Rs 21 lakh, police did not specify the value of the MDMA tablets.

The man, who identified himself as Aniehe Kingsley Chinedu, alias Aney Kingsley Chinedu, has been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, the release added. PTI COR NR