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International drug cartel busted in Delhi: 2 Nigerian nationals held, drugs worth Rs 5 cr seized
The arrests were made after Delhi Police's Crime Branch conducted sustained surveillance of a drug supply network operating across South and South-west Delhi, officers said. During the operation, 418 grams of cocaine and 925 MDMA (ecstasy) tablets were recovered, they added.
Delhi Police bust international drug cartel, arrest two Nigerians, seize cocaine and MDMA worth Rs 5 crore.(Representative/File Photo)
An international drug cartel was busted with the arrest of two Nigerian nationals and the seizure of cocaine and MDMA tablets worth an estimated Rs 5 crore, police said on Sunday.
The arrests were made after Delhi Police’s Crime Branch conducted sustained surveillance of a drug supply network operating across South and South-west Delhi, officers said. During the operation, 418 grams of cocaine and 925 MDMA (ecstasy) tablets were recovered, they added.
According to police, the probe began after an officer received a tip-off about an individual previously involved in cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS).
“On December 2, a tip-off was received by Head Constable Sandeep Kadian that one Nigerian citizen, Frank Vitus, who was previously involved in NDPS cases, was again supplying prohibited psychotropic drugs and MDMA in various parts of South Delhi. Soon, a team started technical as well as manual surveillance on the suspect, who was constantly changing his location throughout South and South-west parts of Delhi,” said DCP Crime Branch Harsh Indora.
A raid was conducted, resulting in Vitus’s arrest, DCP Indora said, adding that 418 grams of cocaine and 910 tablets of MDMA were also recovered.
“Vitus told police that he was involved in supplying psychotropic drugs in various areas of Delhi and adjoining states. Efforts were then concentrated on nabbing the source of the recovered drugs, who was using a Nigerian number for WhatsApp communication,” DCP Indora added.
According to police, analysis of Vitus’s phone and further technical investigation led them to Southwest Delhi’s Mehrauli, where the second accused, identified as another Nigerian national, Sunday Otuu (53), was arrested from a rented accommodation.
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Fifteen ecstasy tablets were recovered from Otuu’s room, police said. Otuu told police that he had been living in Delhi for the past two years and had been supplying drugs to Vitus, officers said.
According to police, he told investigators that the syndicate was being run by a kingpin based in Nigeria, who coordinated deliveries through intermediaries, including an African woman residing in Delhi.
Police said Vitus came to India in 2012 on a business visa for garment exports and was arrested by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in 2015. After being released on bail in 2024, he allegedly re-established contact with drug dealers in Nigeria and began distributing narcotics in Delhi. Otuu, who arrived in India in 2015 for business, joined the racket after suffering losses in the garment trade, police said.
Police said further investigation is underway to identify other members of the syndicate, including the overseas handlers and local facilitators involved in the supply chain.
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