HYDERABAD: City police picked up eight persons from Hyderabad and Mumbai for working with Nigerian Peddler Chukwu Ogbonna David alias Tony in drug peddling activity.
Tony’s couriers — Md Asif Arif Shaik, Aftab Parwaz and Irfan — were among the people cops took into custody for questioning.
“Along with the arrested accused, Imran Babu Shaik and Noor Mohammed Khan, Tony had a few more persons delivering cocaine to his customers in Hyderabad on his instructions. Arif, Aftab, Irfan and Shahid are couriers,” said an investigator.
Police are questioning Arif, Aftab and Irfan, to identify the ways through which they used to transfer the money given by the customers to Tony.
Based on the information given by the trio and Tony, police picked up five persons who used to help Tony’s couriers in transferring money from Hyderabad to Mumbai. “The modus operandi is almost akin to hawala operation. The associates of Tony collect mostly cash from clients. They use e-wallet money transfer service providers, who charge commission, to transfer money. They were transferring the amount to Tony’s associates in Mumbai who let him use their bank accounts for commission,” police said.
Police also identified a garments businessman from Mumbai whose bank account Tony had been using.
Tony will be produced before court on Thursday morning and he will be sent in judicial remand. Police said some other businessmen, Soma Shashikanth, Gajendra Parekh, Sanjay Gardapally and Alok Jain who have been named as accused in the drug peddling case, are still on the run. Meanwhile, nine consumers including seven businessmen who were in judicial remand for allegedly purchasing cocaine from Tony, have been released from Chanchalguda prison on Wednesday after a local court granted them bail.
