Major Pan-India Drug Network Exposed
In a significant breakthrough that reveals the dark nexus between prostitution and narcotics, a coordinated effort by the Delhi Police and Telangana's specialized EAGLE force has dismantled a widespread drug network. The investigation uncovered that female sex workers were being coerced into acting as drug couriers for a pan-India peddling operation.
The Visakhapatnam Sting Operation
The case unfolded when authorities identified three foreign nationals—two Nigerians and one Tanzanian residing in Delhi—who were supplying high-quality OG ganja to a Hyderabad resident and two individuals connected to Andhra University in Visakhapatnam. The trail led police to a service apartment in Visakhapatnam, where the women were apprehended alongside men who had booked their services through a mobile application.
Investigators made a crucial discovery: these women had been brought to Visakhapatnam not primarily for prostitution, but with the main objective of delivering drugs. From the three women, authorities seized 20 grams of OG ganja. Police sources revealed that four additional consumers had already purchased drugs from these suppliers before the arrests were made.
Delhi Connection and Financial Trail
The investigation then pointed toward a larger organized gang operating from Delhi, where security agencies subsequently apprehended 50 Nigerian nationals involved in drug peddling. A deeper probe into the digital evidence uncovered the financial infrastructure supporting the racket.
On Thursday, investigators identified 29 mule accounts used by the Nigerian operatives to process transactions. "How they accessed the mule accounts is being verified. We found 2,000 transactions done by the drug consumers to the mule accounts operated by Nigerian drug peddlers," official sources told TOI.
Nationwide Network and Concealment Methods
The drug network had established agents spread across multiple Indian cities, sourcing narcotics from Delhi and redistributing them for profit throughout the country. The gang employed sophisticated concealment techniques, relying heavily on courier-based smuggling.
Their modus operandi involved purchasing ordinary items like garments, shoes, and cosmetics from e-commerce platforms and using them as clever covers to hide narcotics. "Externally, one cannot make out anything. In one case, when we verified a shirt, we found drugs hidden in it," officials explained.
The investigation continues as authorities work to completely map the network's financial channels, interstate smuggling routes, and the specific roles of each arrested individual in this complex criminal operation.
