Hyderabad, Oct 10 Telangana's Eagle Action Group for Drug Law Enforcement (EAGLE) has seized Rs 3 crore from a hawala establishment allegedly used for laundering drug proceeds, officials said on Friday.
The special anti-drugs task force seized the money in an operation in Mumbai and also arrested Dargaram Rataji Prajapati, a key accused in a nationwide hawala network used to channel proceeds of drug trafficking for Nigerian cartels, EAGLE said here.
Prajapati had earlier managed to escape during a raid on Bharat Kumar Chaganlal and Company in Mumbai.
The investigations revealed that the firm was being used as a front to move drug funds through hawala channels on behalf of foreign drug syndicates.
A special team of EAGLE led by Inspector K. Praveen Kumar arrested Prajapati.
The operation was carried out as part of the investigation into an international drug money laundering racket that was busted, with the arrest of a foreign national Onyeisi Esomchi Kenneth alias Maxwell alias Emmanuel Bediako.
He was operating in India using four Nigerian passports and one Ghanian passport.
As of now, 25 people have been arrested in connection with the hawala drug network and a total of Rs 3.084 crore seized.
Prajapati told EAGLE officials during interrogation that hawala racket is operated through multiple cities with offices at Jhaveri Chambers in Ahmedabad's Ratnapur, managed by Devji and Dilip; and Bharat Kumar Chaganlal and Company in Delhi's Chandni Chowk, managed by Mukesh.
Agents identified as Uttam Singh alias Jaswant, Kheema Ram alias Raju alias Rajlaxmi of Goa and Chetan Mavji of Mumbai were responsible for collecting hawala money from Nigerian nationals engaged in drug trafficking.
Meanwhile, Rachakonda police have busted an inter-state drug peddling racket and seized drugs with Rs 1 crore.
In a joint operation, the sleuths of the Special Operations Team (SOT) in Malkajgiri along with the Keesara Police, apprehended one inter-state drug peddler involved in the transportation of opium and poppy straw.
They seized seven kg opium, two kg poppy straw and one mobile phone, all worth Rs 1 crore.
The police arrested Lokesh Baret, 26, a native of Rajasthan, while another accused Jagadish Gujjar, hailing from Rajasthan, was absconding.
The accused were procuring, transporting and selling opium to Hyderabad, Chennai and its neighbouring areas.
Lokesh boarded a train from Rajasthan with opium and poppy straw on October 8.
He was arrested on Friday when he arrived in Hyderabad and reached near Kundanpally ORR Rotary in the limits of Keesara police station for handing over the opium and poppy straw to the unknown receiver.
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