…Nigeria Ranks Second Among Foreign Nationals Nabbed — Report
No fewer than 106 Nigerians were arrested in India in 2024 for involvement in drug trafficking, according to an official report released by the country’s Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).
The report, which was unveiled by India’s Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, during the second National Conference of Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) heads, revealed that Nigerians constituted the second-highest group of foreign nationals implicated in the crime, after Nepalese citizens, who topped the list with 203 arrests.
Other foreigners arrested include Myanmarese (25), Bangladeshis (18), Ivorians (14), Ghanaians (13), and Icelanders (10).
The NCB disclosed that in 2024 alone, India intercepted 187.1kg of heroin, 5.3kg of methamphetamine, and 4.2kg of opium across several states, with a worrying surge in the use of drones to smuggle narcotics. Punjab reported 163 drone-trafficking cases, Rajasthan 15, and Jammu and Kashmir one.
NCB Director General, Anurag Garg, attributed India’s rising drug crisis to its “geographic vulnerability between two major global drug-producing zones — the Death Crescent (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran) and the Death Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand, Laos).”
Home Minister Amit Shah warned that the battle against narcotics has gone beyond targeting street-level dealers, stressing that the government was now focused on dismantling three categories of cartels: those at entry points, mid-level distributors, and retail peddlers within states.
“The time has come to bring those who run the drug trade in India while residing abroad within the ambit of the law. We are determined to wipe out all forms of narcotics from this country,” Shah declared.
He urged all task force heads to collaborate with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure the extradition of fugitives involved in drug cartels, insisting that such actions would also help weaken terrorist networks tied to the narcotics trade.
Shah also revealed that new strategies will rely heavily on technology-driven tools, including darknet analysis, cryptocurrency tracking, communication pattern reviews, logistics monitoring, and machine learning to outsmart drug cartels.
PLATFORM TIMES further reports that the report shows Nigeria’s persistent image problem abroad, with citizens increasingly linked to international drug syndicates.
In recent years, similar arrests have been recorded in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Latin America, sparking diplomatic concerns over the country’s reputation.
A senior Lagos-based criminologist, Dr. Femi Akinwumi, who spoke with PLATFORM TIMES on Saturday, said the development calls for urgent bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and India.
“Drug trafficking is no longer a local crime; it is global. The fact that over a hundred Nigerians were arrested in one year in India alone shows how entrenched these networks are.
“Nigeria must engage in stronger intelligence-sharing with countries like India to dismantle the cartels at the root,” he said.
The Nigerian government has yet to issue an official statement on the arrests as of press time.
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