Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
Hyderabad, Oct 10 (IANS) Telangana’s Eagle Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) has seized Rs 3 crore from a hawala establishment which was allegedly used to launder drug proceeds. Officials gave this information on Friday.
EAGLE here said the special anti-drug task force seized the money in an operation in Mumbai and also arrested Dargaram Rataji Prajapati, a key accused in the nationwide hawala network which was used to channel the proceeds of drug trafficking to Nigerian cartels.
Prajapati had earlier managed to escape during the raid on Bharat Kumar Chhaganlal & Company in Mumbai.
The investigation revealed that the firm was being used as a front to transfer drug funds through hawala channels on behalf of a foreign drug syndicate.
Inspector K. A special team of Eagle led by Praveen Kumar arrested Prajapati.
The operation was conducted as part of the investigation into an international drug money laundering racket which was busted leading to the arrest of a foreign national, Onyeisi Asomchi Kenneth alias Maxwell alias Emmanuel Bediako.
He was working in India using four Nigerian passports and one Ghanian passport.
So far, 25 people have been arrested in connection with the hawala drug network and a total of Rs 3.084 crore has been seized.
Prajapati told Eagle officials during interrogation that the hawala racket operated in multiple cities, with its office at Jhaveri Chambers in Ratnapur, Ahmedabad, managed by Devji and Dilip; and Bharat Kumar Chhaganlal & Company in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, which is managed by Mukesh.
The agents identified as Uttam Singh alias Jaswant, Khema Ram alias Raju alias Rajlakshmi of Goa and Chetan Mavji of Mumbai were responsible for collecting hawala money from Nigerian nationals engaged in drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, Rachakonda police have busted an interstate drug smuggling racket and seized drugs along with Rs 1 crore.
In a joint operation, Special Operations Team (SOT) officials in Malkajgiri along with Keesara police caught an interstate drug smuggler involved in transportation of opium and poppy husk.
They seized seven kilograms of opium, two kilograms of poppy husk and a mobile phone, which are worth Rs 1 crore.
Police arrested Lokesh Barrett, 26, a native of Rajasthan, while another accused Jagdish Gurjar, a native of Rajasthan, absconded.
The accused were purchasing, transporting and selling opium in Hyderabad, Chennai and its neighboring areas.
Lokesh boarded the train from Rajasthan on October 8 with opium and poppy seeds.
He was arrested on Friday when he reached Hyderabad and approached Kundanpally ORR Rotary in Keesara police station limits to hand over opium and poppy straw to an unknown receiver.
–IANS
ms/khz