Margret Mgbudom, a 37-year-old Nigerian woman, has been arrested and detained in India for allegedly importing cocaine valued at Rs 1.49 crore (N256 million).
The Nigerian woman was arraigned before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court in Navsari, Gujarat, India, for the alleged offence on Wednesday.
According to the Indian Express, Gujarat’s State Monitoring Cell (SMC) intercepted the illicit substance, estimated to be worth N256 million, last Wednesday. Mgbudom has remained in SMC custody since her arrest.
Mgbudom, who resides at Meera Road in Mumbai, was said to have been charged under various sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act after law enforcement received intelligence on Tuesday.
She was arrested after the law enforcement agents stopped her car in Maharashtra and conducted a search that led to the discovery of 149.51 grams of cocaine. Her passport was also seized.
Commenting on the case, SMC Police Inspector V.C. Jadeja, said, “After primary interrogation, she disclosed that the drug is ogwned by a person named Elder in Nigeria.
”She said she got the drug from one Emmanuel of Mumbai, to get it delivered to a person in Surat. She hired a car from Mumbai and was on her way to Surat.”
The Police Inspector added, ” The cocaine might have come from Nigeria through peddlers but it is the local members of the cartel in India who identify the customers and sell it at high rates.”
