Hyderabad drug bust: Nigerian among 3 held for supplying drugs to celebrities; cocaine, MDMA seized

HYDERABAD: Three persons, including a Nigerian national, were nabbed by TG Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB) personnel as they were in possession of 107 grams of cocaine, 25 grams of MDMA (ecstasy) and planning to sell them to celebrities. One of the accused confessed supplying the contraband to customers attending a rave party in Moinabad.The accused - Chukwumeka Wisdom Onyeka, Gopishetty Rajesh and Bommadevara Veera Raju - were caught after conducting searches at an apartment in Narsingi. TGANB director Sandeep Shandilya said that so far, they have identified customers - Phani Raj, Pavithra Reddy, Satish, Sada Shiva, Sudhir and Bhanu- who bought drugs in the past from the accused.The Nigerian national first entered India in Dec, 2022, on a student visa by impersonating as a Sudanese national. After coming to India, he received Nigerian passport in the name of Chukwu Emeka Divine from his handler Max. In 2024, he returned to Nigeria and destroyed the passport. Three months later, he again came to India as Chukwumeka Wisdom Onyeka. He enrolled himself in BSc course in a private college in Gujarat. Wisdom was arrested in 2023 by the Raidurgam police. After he was released on bail, he went to Nigeria and returned to India using a different passport. "The syndicate is operated by Max alias Princewel alias Gabriel, a Nigerian, managing supply chains from abroad using student visa holders and fake identities," the TGNAB director said.Max's associates in India were supplying drugs to Rajesh and Veera Raju, who in turn were supplying drugs to celebrities, whose names the bureau has refused to disclose. In the past, Rajesh and Raju were arrested by the Raiduram police and, after coming out of jail, they again got in touch with Nigerian drug peddlers. "They visited Goa multiple times to procure narcotics and supplied them in elite circles in Hyderabad," police said.