UP Police nabs Nigerian national from Delhi for drug trafficking

Lucknow/Agra, Dec 26 (PTI) The Uttar Pradesh Police's Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) has arrested a Nigerian national allegedly involved in an international drug trafficking network linked to the supply of heroin in the state, officials said on Friday.

The accused, Ike Prince (41), a resident of Lagos, Nigeria, was arrested in Delhi in connection with the seizure of one kilogram of heroin, estimated to be worth around Rs 2 crore in the international market, they said.

Investigations revealed that the foreign national was staying in India without a valid passport or visa, according to a statement.

The arrest was made by the ANTF operational unit of the Agra zone, following leads that emerged from an earlier drug haul in Uttar Pradesh. On October 9, the ANTF arrested two drug peddlers from Mathura district and recovered heroin from them.

Those arrested were identified as Waqaar, a resident of Gurugram, and Faizan, from Delhi's Seelampur.

During interrogation, the two accused disclosed that the heroin had been supplied by a Nigerian national, leading investigators to Ike Prince, police said.

Based on sustained follow-up and technical inputs, the ANTF team traced and arrested Ike Prince from the Fatehpur Beri area under the Maidan Garhi police station in South Delhi on December 25.

According to police, Prince was operating from a rented accommodation in Delhi and was acting as a supplier in an inter-state drug trafficking network.

A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act had already been registered in Mathura, and further legal action is being taken against him under the Foreigners Act for illegal stay in India.

The Nigerian High Commission in India has been informed about the arrest made in accordance with the Vienna Convention, officials said. PTI KIS NSD NSD