The police on Tuesday arrested a Nigerian woman suspected to be a key link in a racket supplying drugs in Kerala. Kasaragod ASP P.K. Raju, who supervised the case, and Bekal DySP C.K. Sunil Kumar, who arrested the woman in Bengaluru, said on Wednesday that the accused is Hafsa Rihanath Usman, alias Blessing Joy (22).
The investigating officers said she was arrested based on information from Abu Bakar (35), his wife Ameena Azara (23) residing in the Melaparamba police station limits, A.K. Wasim (32) of Kalyana Nagar in Karnataka, and Suraj (32), a resident of Bengaluru, all of whom were arrested on April 22 at Uduma Pallath in Kasaragod.
The police said that Abu Bakar, during interrogation, revealed that drugs were delivered to them from Bengaluru after they had contacted the dealer on a WhatsApp number. Subsequent investigation revealed that the number belonged to the Nigerian woman. The investigation team said the Nigerian Embassy has been informed about the arrest of the woman.
“When arrested, she did not have any passport, visa or other documents. The woman reached Bengaluru on a student visa a year-and-a-half ago. It is suspected that her main aim was drug trade under the guise of studies,” said the police.
The suspect was arrested on the basis of instructions from District Police Chief Vaibhav Saxena, who is leading ‘Operation Clean Kasaragod’, to find the source of the drug.
Mr. Raju and Mr. Sunil Kumar said it is suspected that there is a large group behind the woman as part of the racket, adding that further investigation was on.
Inspectors P.K. Pradeep, K.M. John, senior civil police officers Sudhir Babu, Sreejith, Seema and Deepak, and civil police officers Nikesh, Harish, Sarish and Reshma Patoli were part of the police team that nabbed the accused.