Nigerian woman held with Cocaine worth Rs 5.75 lakh, cash in ECR

CHENNAI: Tambaram City Police on Sunday arrested a 30-year-old Nigerian woman, after she was caught in possession of Cocaine worth Rs 5.75 lakh near Kanathur off East Coast Road (ECR). Police also recovered Rs 2.6 lakh in cash from the woman.

According to police, three special teams were formed by the Tambaram City police to crack down on the peddling of drugs in their jurisdiction.

A team headed by Pallikaranai PEW (Prohibition and Enforcement Wing) inspector Saravanan were keeping vigil along ECR and noted the foreign woman who alighted an autorickshaw handing over a small parcel to another person. When the police team apprehended the woman, she tried to escape, but was caught.

On Checking her baggage, police found 72 small packets of cocaine. The woman was identified as Oniyani Monicka and she has been staying at an apartment in Velachery for the past nine months.

Investigations revealed that Monicka came to India, accompanying her brother for his cancer treatment at a private hospital in Mumbai. While her brother went home after his treatment, Monicka stayed back in India and started selling Cocaine in Chennai.

“She procured the narcotic substance from another Nigerian national in Mumbai. She buys them for Rs 2000 for each gram and sells them for Rs 5000,” a police officer said.

The woman was produced before the magistrate and remanded to judicial custody.