A 46-year-old Nigerian, Emmanuel Afam, has been declared wanted by the Kerala Excise Department over his reported connection to the seizure of 3.3kg of MDMA in Kerala.
The Kerala Excise Department said a Look Out Circular had been issued against Afam, as it is part of the investigation into the drug seizure near the Pantheerankavu toll plaza in Kozhikode, according to a report by the United News of India on Wednesday.
The report noted that nine persons had been arrested in connection with the case, while “a Look Out Circular has been issued against Nigerian national Emmanuel Afam, who is absconding.”
In an earlier report by NDTV of India last Friday, the investigation reportedly led detectives to several states, including Jaipur, where a search of a suspect’s flat reportedly yielded MDMA and other evidence.
During questioning, the suspect, identified only as Hiran, gave investigators a crucial lead.
“He allegedly told them that his supplier was a Nigerian national he had met while lodged in Bengaluru’s Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in another NDPS case.
“He knew the man only as ‘Frank Maxin’.
“Investigators took Hiran to the Bengaluru prison and showed him photographs of Nigerian nationals who had been lodged there during the relevant period. He identified a man.”
According to the report, the Kerala Excise disclosed that further investigation established the true identity of the Nigerian suspect as Emmanuel Afam, 46.
Afam was accused of using around 19 Indian and Nigerian mobile numbers and communicating through phones without SIM cards, Wi-Fi networks and applications capable of scrambling IP addresses.
“Investigators obtained his travel records through the Foreigners Regional Registration Office.
“Afam has now been named as the eighth accused. A Vadakara NDPS court issued an arrest warrant against him, while a Look Out Circular was issued through the Bureau of Immigration.”
Afam’s case joins several other cases of drug-related charges facing several Nigerians in India.
PUNCH Metro reported that on August 19, four Nigerian nationals were arrested in India over alleged involvement in a drug trafficking network, with narcotics worth approximately 15 crore (N2.1bn) recovered during a series of operations.
The arrests followed coordinated operations by the Narcotics Control Bureau, state police and other security agencies targeting foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking and overstaying their visas in India.
