In a major breakthrough against drug-linked money laundering, the Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau (TGANB), in coordination with Goa Police, seized Rs 50 lakh in cash from an apartment in Goa believed to be part of a hawala network operated by an international drug cartel.
The cash — neatly packed and hidden inside a washing machine — was recovered from an apartment in the Highland Park complex during a late-night raid. Investigators say the amount was collected over just two days and was moments away from being transferred to Nigeria through informal financial channels.
The raid followed a month-long surveillance operation triggered by the arrest of a Nigerian national, Emmanuel Bediako alias Maxwell, in Hyderabad last week. Bediako, a repeat visitor to Goa since 2013, was apprehended with cocaine and ecstasy pills worth Rs 1.25 crore. Bediako was dealing with celebrity cocaine (pure cocaine), cocaine and MDMA. His total commission would be around Rs 1.17 crore for three trips. His interrogation revealed the existence of an extensive money laundering channel used to funnel drug profits abroad.
Based on these leads, TGANB officials traced the cash flow to Goa and launched coordinated operations in Mapusa. Raids were carried out at an apartment in Highland Park and at Sangeetha Mobile Shop, owned by the main accused, Uttam Singh. Singh was taken into custody and is believed to have laundered over Rs 2.1 crore within a week, according to the agency.
Singh’s modus operandi involved collecting cash from foreign nationals, routing it via hawala operators through Mumbai, and ultimately facilitating its transfer to Nigeria. Officials confirmed that any delay in the operation could have resulted in the Rs 50 lakh being smuggled out of the country.
According to the TGANB, the drugs that are being sold by the Nigerian drug cartels are coming from abroad and the drug money and profits are sent to Nigeria through an extensive money laundering channel involving Indian hawala operators and Nigerian drug cartel.
A few days before Bediako’s arrest, his boss Romey, who mostly stays in Nigeria and operates from there, instructed him and money laundering channels to expand the business beyond Goa and suggested Hyderabad, which has a high customer base, the TGANB said.
TGANB has indicated that the seized amount is only a fragment of a larger hawala system run by Nigerian drug cartels with local Indian collaborators. A team has been dispatched to Delhi for further investigation into the financial trail.
SPIN CYCLE BUSTED
Rs50 lakhin cash seized from a washing machine in an apartment in Goa
Operation followed the Hyderabad arrest of Nigerian nationalEmmanuel BediakoaliasMaxwelllast week
Goan suspectUttam Singh,who ran Sangeetha Mobile Shop in Mapusa arrested for allegedly launderingRs 2.1 crinone week
Money was being channelled viaMumbaitoNigeria,part of a widerinternational drug syndicate
TGANBhas dispatched a team toDelhito trace furthermoney laundering links