Police in Thrissur in Kerala – a state on India’s tropical Malabar Coast – have arrested a Nigerian man for allegedly dealing in crystal methamphetamine.
Twenty-seven-year-old Ken alias Ebuka Victor Anayo, who’s based in Delhi, is a key player in a gang that allegedly supplies the illicit drug in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states, according to the anti-narcotic division of Thrissur police.
Police said they zeroed in on the Nigerian by following leads they received while probing a case that related to the seizure of 196 grams of crystal methamphetamine in the Thrissur suburb of Mannuthy on May 13, adding that the gang targeted youngsters in the three aforementioned states.
On interrogation, the accused in that case, Burhanudeen from Chavakkad, told the police he sourced crystal methamphetamine from a Sudanese national called Muhammed Babiker Ali and a Palestinian man known as Hassan.
When the duo were arrested in Bengaluru, 300 grams of crystal methamphetamine were seized from them.
On interrogation, Ali and Hassan confessed that a certain Sudanese man whose name was Ken supplied them with the drug.
It took the police three months to trace Ken to his hideout: the ‘Nigerian Colony’ in Delhi – where many chronic offenders allegedly reside.
The Nigerian was subsequently arrested by a joint team of Kerala and Delhi police officers.
Ken was produced in a court in Saket, Delhi, and was detained in Tihar Jail for three days.
He was later extradited to Thrissur to answer for his crimes.
Police said Ken did not have a passport or visa but only had a refugee certificate.
Explaining the importance of Ken’s arrest, the police said although the arrest of drug peddlers was quite common, it was rare for the main suppliers to be booked.
