Drug racket operated out of a Goan jail unearthed

The Telangana State Anti Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB) has identified two men, including a Nigerian national, lodged inside the jail to be operating one of the biggest drug rackets across the country.

An image of hashish oil and ganja seized by law enforcement authorities in Telangana. The image is used for representative purpose only. File | Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G

A customer looking to ‘score some stuff’ can make one Secure-Lined call on a hotline inside Goa’s Colvale Jail from Hyderabad and get the contraband delivered to him within 45 minutes anywhere in Hyderabad indicating the huge network of drug suppliers and peddlers.

The Telangana State Anti Narcotics Bureau (TSNAB) has identified two men, including a Nigerian national, lodged inside the jail to be operating one of the biggest drug rackets across the country. The network is so strong and spread out that we had to rope in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) to assist and help us break it down, said an official from the TSNAB. Officials from the bureau also said that they have informed the top brass of Goa police and prison authorities about the link to Hyderabad. Following a sweep inside the premises, 16 phones were recovered from the inmates.

“They are sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and we will know more. There are 44 foreigners lodged in the jail at present and we have also informed the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) to keep an eye on their movements,” sources close to the probe revealed.

The racket was unearthed following the arrest of Iwuala Udoka Stanley, 43, hailing from Anambra, Nigeria, earlier this month by the TSNAB and Panjagutta police. Officials seized drugs worth about ₹8 crore from him, including 557 grams of cocaine, 902 ecstasy pills weighing about 390 grams, 105 LSD blots, 215 grams of charas, 21 grams of heroin, seven grams of Amphetamine, 45 grams of OG weed and 190 grams of weed, and eight cell phones

Stanley runs the drug trade from North Goa and claims to have 511 customers across the country. In the latest development in the case, the West Zone police of Hyderabad nabbed one Saurav from Pune, who receives the international shipments and coordinates with Stanley in the supply. 

He sources the drugs from the Netherlands in two channels, said Sandeep Shandilya, the director of TSNAB. “While one is by concealing it among clothes and parcelling it through international courier services, the other method is by using drug mules who consume the contraband in capsules and excrete it after landing in India. This was established after we found international parcel boxes and stool-stained drug capsules at his residence,” explained the official.

 So far there have been nine drug consignments delivered to him from Holland. Officials are yet to identify the point of contact in the Netherlands.

 “The drug network is based out of Goa, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. He claimed to have another Nigerian national inside the jail and identified him as Okra. While the other point of contact is one Faizal. Faizal is the one who gets WhatsApp calls on his UK-based number for supply from Hyderabad and other cities. He facilitates the deliveries through his drivers after a UPI payment is done online. One of the drivers was recently arrested by the NCB officials with 7.5 grams of cocaine in Goa,” added the official.

 Sources also revealed Stanley’s wife, an Indian national, was also involved in the drug trade. She currently resides at their house he recently purchased in Goa worth ₹1 crore.