Gurgaon: A drug racket was uncovered after Faridabad police raided a rented house in Lakkarpur and seized 2.3kg of cocaine and other narcotic substances valued at around Rs 15 crore in the international market.Three foreigners were arrested. Police said the accused — Ifeanyi Emmanuel and Bell John alias Enudun Emmanuel, both Nigerians, and Remy alias Amos Ovie, a Cameroonian — had been living in the rented premises for around two to three years and had come to India around 2018.The interstate drug cartel was busted in a joint operation by Faridabad crime branch NIT and Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Delhi.The passports and visa records of the accused are being examined. According to police, the three could not produce valid visa documents or give satisfactory answers during the preliminary verification.“Faridabad crime branch had been working on the inputs for two weeks. We received intelligence that some foreigners living in Lakkarpur were running an interstate drug cartel,” ACP Aman Yadav said.“Their main area of operation was around Delhi and this is why they had chosen Lakkarpur, which is close to Delhi,” he said.The three accused were produced before a court and taken into police custody. A case has been registered at Surajkund police station under the relevant provisions of the NDPS Act.A team, led by crime branch NIT inspector Anil Chhillar, along with NCB officials, obtained a search warrant and raided the second floor of a residential building in Shiv Durga Vihar under Surajkund police station jurisdiction. The search resulted in the recovery of 2.3 kg of cocaine, 26 gm of methamphetamine and 1.4 kg of unidentified white powder, besides Rs 50,000 in cash.The NCB team tested the seized material and confirmed the presence of cocaine and amphetamine, while the composition of the white powder is being ascertained.“They used to supply the drugs by making small parcels of 1gm, 2gm and bigger pouches. The cocaine was kept in multiple packets and two small weighing scales used for measuring minute quantities were also recovered,” Yadav said.The investigation will now focus on their mobile communications, clients, suppliers, financial transactions and the movement of drug money, police said.Investigators will also examine how much narcotic material the accused may have brought into the region in the past and identify the areas and people who formed part of their distribution chain.The raid has also triggered a wider verification of foreign nationals living in the area. Police identified nine other African nationals residing in apartments in the same residential building who could not produce satisfactory visa or identity documents. Their details are being sent to Foreigners Regional Registration Office, Delhi, for verification.Police are also examining the role of the landlord. Yadav said the landlord had been informed before the raid but did not reach the spot and switched off his phone. Police will examine the documents and verification carried out when the property was rented out and determine if there was any negligence.
