In a massive crackdown on international and inter-state drug trafficking and money laundering, law enforcement agencies in Telangana have arrested key operatives and seized over Rs4 crore in cash and narcotics.
The Eagle Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE), Telangana’s elite anti-drug task force, has seized Rs3 crore from a hawala firm in Mumbai suspected of laundering drug proceeds for Nigerian cartels, officials said on Friday.
During the operation, authorities arrested Dargaram Rataji Prajapati, a pivotal figure in a pan-India hawala network. Prajapati had earlier evaded capture during a raid on Bharat Kumar Chaganlal and Company in Mumbai. He was later apprehended by a special EAGLE team led by Inspector K. Praveen Kumar.
Investigations revealed the company was a front for moving drug money through hawala channels on behalf of foreign drug syndicates. The racket spanned across Ahmedabad, Delhi, Goa, and Mumbai, with agents like Uttam Singh alias Jaswant, Kheema Ram alias Raju, and Chetan Mavji collecting money from Nigerian nationals engaged in drug trade.
This operation follows the arrest of Onyeisi Esomchi Kenneth, alias Maxwell and Emmanuel Bediako, a foreign national found using four Nigerian and one Ghanaian passport. So far, 25 arrests have been made in connection with the hawala-drug nexus, with total seizures amounting to Rs3.084 crore.
In a separate operation, Rachakonda Police busted an inter-state drug peddling racket, seizing seven kilograms of opium, two kilograms of poppy straw, and a mobile phone — all valued at Rs1 crore.
The operation, conducted jointly by the Special Operations Team (SOT), Malkajgiri, and Keesara Police, led to the arrest of Lokesh Baret (26), a native of Rajasthan. Another accused, Jagadish Gujjar, also from Rajasthan, is currently absconding.
According to police, Lokesh transported the narcotics by train from Rajasthan and was intercepted near Kundanpally ORR Rotary, under Keesara police limits, while attempting to deliver the consignment to an unknown receiver.
The drugs were intended for sale in Hyderabad, Chennai, and nearby regions. Police are intensifying efforts to trace the remaining network.
