₹39cr cocaine haul: 5th accused held, may help nab key players
MUMBAI: The Amboli police on Tuesday arrested the fifth accused in the ₹38.95 croreworth cocaine haul case. According to police, the 35-year-old accused, Nonso Igboeje, is a Nigerian national and was a carrier for courier companies to send the drugs outside the country. With the arrest of Igboeje, police said they will be able to find out the supplier and receiver of the drugs.
Police had arrested four accused on Saturday, including a Brazilian woman and three other Nigerian nationals. They were to meet Igboeje to hand him over the consignment of cocaine, which they had hidden inside curtain rings.
Igboeje’s name cropped up during the investigation and police tracked him through the courier company’s data. “We arrested him on Tuesday. His arrest is extremely important in the case. We will find out the supplier and the receiver of the narcotics through him. His contacts in India will be on our priority during his interrogation,” said Daya Nayak, police inspector.
Police sources said they arrested the accused when he was in Colaba trying to track the consignment he had previously sent to South Africa, which had not reached their intended recipient yet. Igboeje was unaware that the courier company to which he gave the consignment to be sent to South Africa had been tracked by the police.
Igboeje used to get the curtains and once they were filled with cocaine, he couriered them outside the country. The four accused, who were arrested earlier used a machine to open the rings used to hang the curtains and then fill them with tubes full of cocaine. When arrested, they were carrying 78 curtains each having eight rings.