₹3 Crore Hawala Racket Tied to Nigerian Drug Cartels Uncovered by EAGLE

rapid Summary:

• Telangana’s Elite Action group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) uncovered an international drug money laundering racket linked to Nigerian cartels operating in India.
• Onyeisi Esomchi Kenneth, alias Maxwell Kenneth, was arrested after being caught attempting to sell cocaine and ecstasy pills in Hyderabad. Over ₹68 lakh was allegedly routed abroad by him through hawala transactions.
• The racket was reportedly facilitated by a network of hawala operators: Chetan Mamania, Uttam Singh, chetan Singh, Durga Ram, and Chagan Lal.
• Cartels collected around ₹25 lakh daily (~₹2.1 crore weekly) from Nigerians in Goa as drug money; this amount financed purchases of baby frocks, garments, human hair, and grocery items exported via sea cargo to Lagos from Mumbai and Chennai.
• 24 special Eagle teams raided locations across Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Goa, and Delhi; 20 money launderers were arrested during the operation while cash exceeding ₹3 crore was seized. Total accused now stands at 50; some key figures are absconding.
• Probe highlighted foreign cartels exploiting flaws in India’s visa system using fake identities for re-entry despite crackdowns since 2010 (353 foreign nationals arrested under NDPS cases).
• Cocaine is routed into India from Latin America while synthetic drugs come via Europe using reputed international courier services like DHL and fedex.
• Authorities recommend dismantling hawala channels alongside stricter visa checks to combat these issues.
• Citizens advised to verify foreign tenants’ identities and report suspicious activities.

Indian Opinion Analysis:
the recent bust underscores the elegant methods employed by international drug syndicates leveraging India’s legal loopholes-hawala networks for laundering proceeds along with exploitation of visa/passport systems underscore systemic vulnerabilities that need immediate attention. the probe also sheds light on the increasing globalization of illicit activities with Indian ports playing a central role as transit hubs for goods tied to these operations.

The sustained dominance of Nigerian cartels over nearly two decades indicates enforcement challenges despite local crackdowns being frequent since at least 2010-a trend pointing toward deeper integration between domestic actors (like merchants/hawala agents) supporting foreign crime groups financially or logistically.

Suggestions offered by officials-strengthening visa scrutiny while dismantling option remittance channels like hawala-are crucial steps but not sufficient alone without addressing broader institutional gaps such as monitoring courier service shipments or cross-border financial flows within supply chains involved indirectly to covering legitimate import-export trades patterns lingering traceable overlaps reports accuracy dynamics across statewise involved traceable news hits compliance

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