Drug racket busted in city, Nigerian held with 170 gm cocaine

Cocaine weighing around 170 gram worth Rs 1 crore was seized from accused James Kevin Edward and it also gave the NCB officers lead to catch his associates who are operating the racket from Mumbai.

Acting on a tip off, a team comprising officers of Kolkata Zonal Unit of NCB conducted a raid near City Centre II and found the 28-year-old Nigerian national moving around the place in search of the person to whom he was about to pass the consignment.

Edward was involved in trafficking of drugs to different parts of the country and he confessed to the investigating officers that he used to bring black colour capsules of cocaine inside his body and later handover it to local peddlers.

He told the officers that he came to Kolkata following instructions given by his associates who are actually running the entire racket from Mumbai. He also confessed that earlier he had delivered similar consignment in Kolkata twice.

After preliminary investigation, the officers are not keeping a section of people from affluent class, call centre employees and pub goers out of their purview as the last recipient of such expensive drugs that worth around Rs 60,000 per gram.

The investigating officers also seized Edward's mobile phone. But they couldn't contact anyone else apart from one person in Mumbai using the cell phone.

An operation has been initiated in Mumbai to search the associates of the accused. The investigating officers are considering the arrest of his associates in Mumbai quite crucial as only then they can get to know about other people from Kolkata and other parts of the country who are also involved in the racket.