Nigerian youth caught with 1.5-kg heroin

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 19

A Nigerian national was arrested in the city yesterday with 1.5 kg of heroin, worth Rs 7.5 crore, in what police termed as a major breakthrough.

Having come to India for the treatment of his brother, the suspect, who eventually got involved in the drug trade, was intercepted by the police as he got off a bus on a highway.

A police party held a naka at the Raowali village, Turning Point, GT Road, on the Jalandhar-Pathankot highway, where they arrested the suspicious-looking man.

SSP Navjot Singh Mahal said today that on a tip-off, the Maqsudan police laid a naka at the aforesaid point after information that a Nigerian national was about to deliver a huge consignment of drugs to somebody.

The SSP said: “On getting information that the Nigeria-based citizen, Kevin Amas, is bringing a huge consignment of heroin from Delhi to Jalandhar, a trap was laid on Sarmastpur Bridge. The trap was laid about 4 pm on Sunday and thereafter the suspect boarded off from a bus and was seen roaming in a suspicious position.”

Apprehended by the police, the police recovered 1.5 kg of heroin from a brown colour bag which he was carrying on his shoulder. The police have lodged an FIR under Section 21 of the NDPS Act at the Maqsudan police station, Jalandhar. While a probe is currently on, the police said more revelations were yet to be made. During investigation, the 27-year-old suspect said he was son of Amas, a resident of Benin City in Nigeria, and at present residing at Chanda Vihar, near Vikaspuri, Delhi.

He said he, along with his elder brother and sister, came to India in March 2016 for the treatment of his brother, who was suffering from some heart ailment.

He said later, his brother and sister gone to Bengaluru while he stayed in Delhi. During his stay in Delhi, he came in contact with Ibo and Vitson and indulged in the business of selling heroin. The police said earlier also, a number of Africa-based drug smugglers had been arrested by the Jalandhar rural police for indulging in smuggling of drugs and cases had been registered against them.