Nigerian National Held With Rs 25.4 Lakh Drugs in Navi Mumbai

Thane: Police have arrested a 43-year-old Nigerian man after seizing mephedrone and cocaine valued at Rs 25.43 lakh from his possession in Maharashtra 's Navi Mumbai township, an official said on Thursday.

Acting on a tip, the police raided a house in Taloja area on Tuesday and caught the Nigerian national with the contraband, Navi Mumbai Anti-Narcotics Cell senior police inspector Sandeep Nigde said.

The police seized from his possession 21.16 gm of mephedrone powder and 106.74 gm of cocaine valued at Rs 4.23 lakh and Rs 21.2 lakh, respectively, he said.

The accused has been identified as Ifeanyi Christian Iyida, the police said.

The house owner, who rented his premises to the Nigerian man without verifying his documents and without intimating the police, has also been made as an accused in the crime, the official said.

An FIR was registered against the accused on Wednesday under provisions of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the Foreigners Act and the Registration of Foreigners Act.

The Nigerian man was produced before a local magistrate who remanded him in police custody till October 14, the official said.

The police were trying to find out from where the accused sourced the contraband and to whom he planned to sell it, he added.