Nigerian students, software engineer arrested in India for drug peddling
Three Nigerian nationals, including a student and software engineer, have been arrested by the Central Crime Branch in the Bengaluru district of India for alleged involvement in drug peddling.The suspects, Kevin Rozer, Kingsley Chukwuemeka, and Thomas Chime, were among seven persons apprehended by the CCB’s Anti-Narcotics Wing on Friday in a major crackdown on a drug network operating in the city.
According to a report by The Hindu on Monday, the CCB team busted the syndicate, seizing large quantities of narcotics from the suspects.“The officials arrested a 30-year-old Nigerian national and seized 500 grams of hydro-ganja worth ₹75 lakh from him,” the report stated. The suspect, Rozer, a software engineer working with a tech firm in Bengaluru, allegedly sourced the drugs from contacts in Delhi and Mumbai.
He was said to have sold the substances to clients through a drop-location method. The police added that the accused used to operate a WhatsApp group to sell drugs.In a separate operation, the police arrested Chukwveneka and Chime in Hebbagodi, recovering 42 grams of ecstasy pills and 3.8 kilograms of MDMA in white and brown powder form.According to the report, the police said the duo used to peddle drugs to their contacts who are students and IT employees.The report further revealed that they were “habitual offenders involved in similar cases in Gujarat and also booked by the Narcotics Control Bureau earlier.”
The report added that the suspects had entered India on medical visas but were allegedly overstaying.This latest development adds to a string of recent arrests of Nigerian nationals in India.In August, three Nigerians were arrested by the Kozhikode town police in connection with a synthetic drug manufacturing operation uncovered in Gurugram, Haryana.
The growing number of such arrests has raised concerns among Nigerian communities abroad, amid ongoing reports of hostility towards Nigerians in parts of India, Ghana, and South Africa.
