India
In a major crackdown, Delhi Police’s Crime Branch has busted an international drug cartel that was exploiting student visas to smuggle and sell heroin in India. Two African nationals were arrested with 700 grams of high-grade heroin worth over ₹1 crore, officials confirmed on Friday.
The accused, identified as Humphrey Muwong from Uganda and Chukwu Ebuka Umeh from Nigeria, were apprehended after a 20-hour-long surveillance operation at Krishna Park Extension in New Mahavir Nagar on April 3.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Vikram Singh, both were allegedly working under the instructions of Dagri Jean Marc, a Nigerian national who previously lived in India. Marc is believed to be running a well-established narcotics network from Africa, with a distribution base in Tilak Nagar, Delhi.
The cartel had been bringing African nationals to India under the pretext of higher education, enrolling them in private universities across Delhi-NCR and Punjab, only to involve them later in the drug trade.
“Muwong, a mechanical engineer by qualification, was earlier arrested under the NDPS Act in 2023 and is currently out on bail,” said DCP Singh. “Both he and Umeh have been living in India since 2019.”
Police say the cartel misused student visas as a cover to evade detection while trafficking narcotics. A case has been registered under sections 21, 61, and 85 of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at the Crime Branch Police Station.
Further investigations are ongoing to trace other operatives and dismantle the cartel’s full network, authorities said.
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