The arrest follows the arrest of a 36-year-old Nigerian on 23 August on suspicion of being a key figure in the drug racket.
The arrest follows the arrest of a 36-year-old Nigerian on 23 August on suspicion of being a key figure in the drug racket.
The Palarivattom police have arrested a foreign woman, who was accused of actively helping an African drug racket in Bengaluru, which was suspected of supplying a large quantity of premium party drug MDMA to the city.
The arrested person has been identified as 26-year-old Angela Takijiwa Brobery, a resident of Ghana. After an operation that lasted for several days, he was arrested by the investigating team from KR Puram in Bengaluru. He is on remand in judicial custody. This racket was allegedly the biggest smuggler of MDMA in Kerala, especially Kochi.
comes close on the heels of the arrest 36-year-old Nigerian arrested Okafor Eze Emmanuel was suspected to be a key figure in the racket on 23 August. Her custodial interrogation led to the arrest of the woman, who was accused of promoting the racket by arranging accommodation for Emmanuel and two of his associates, Patrick and Aja Francis. The police have also claimed that WhatsApp messages linking the woman to the racket have also come in.
“It has emerged that the woman was an accused in another MDMA related case registered in Alappuzha, when it was found that cash to the suppliers was sent through her account. More arrests are likely in this case,” S. Sanal, Station House Officer, Palarivattom said. In fact, this was the latest in a string of arrests to be made by the Palarivattom police in connection with the seizure of 102.04g MDMA hidden in a scooter along the Stadium Link Road in Kaloor on July 20.
Initially, one Haroon Sultan was arrested in this connection on 20 July. Two more accused – Alyn Joseph and Niju Peter – and another accused Alan Tony were arrested on 28 July and 5 August respectively.
This led to the arrest of a Bengaluru-based Verghese Joseph Fernandez on 13 August. He was accused of smuggling MDMA in large quantities from Delhi and Bengaluru. All the accused are currently in judicial custody.
Grilling these accused convinced the investigating team about the presence of Emmanuel in the drug smuggling racket. The ensuing investigation revealed that the racket had smuggled 4.50 kg of MDMA to Kochi in six months.
In the wake of the arrest of his co-accomplices, Emmanuel switched off his mobile phone and was changing his whereabouts. A coordinated investigation with the support of cyber cell and social media major WhatsApp helped the accused escape. Police said that since then it has emerged that he was a key figure in a Bengaluru-based African racket involved in drug smuggling.
The operation was overseen by District Police Chief (Kochi City) CH Nagaraju, Deputy Commissioner S Sasidharan and Ernakulam Assistant Commissioner P. Raj Kumar.
Palarivattom police station in-charge S. A team led by Sanal, Senior Civil Police Officer, Senior Civil Police Officer Sandeep Kumar, and Civil Police officers Siji Vijayan, Mahin Abubakar, Arun Surendran and Unnikrishnan made the arrests.