A Kenyan woman who was heading an international drugs cartel was arrested by Delhi Police’s Special Cell last week. India media have reported.
Mariam Mweke, 36, was being tracked by the cops for the last seven months and had a reward of Rs 50,000 on her head.
Mweke is said to have shifted base to Mumbai and was coordinating her cartel’s operations through VOIP calls and chat platforms.
A resident of Eastleigh, Nairobi, Mweke is married and has two daughters who live in Kenya.
During her interrogation, the accused claimed to have arrived in India in 2016 on a tourist visa for three months, but continued to remain in the county despite the expiry of her visa.
At first, Mweke did odd jobs but eventually came in contact with a Kenyan national named Obum Favor and took to smuggling of drugs.
As Favor dealt in heroin supply in Delhi, Punjab and Mumbai, he lured Mweke into working as a carrier and shuttle between Delhi and Punjab. In due course, Mweke developed her contacts and started her own drug syndicate.
She said her associates used to procure heroin from various Afghan nationals in Delhi for further supply in North India.
Mweke came on the police radar in June 2018 after cops intercepted one of her consignments.
Delhi Police, in 2018, arrested Mweke and two of her associates — Ekene and Martin — with over 7.5kgs of heroin.
“After completing the investigation, a chargesheet was filed against the three accused on November 1, 2018. On January 7, 2019, Mweke was granted bail,” said Pramod Kushwaha, DCP (Special Cell).
Mweke later jumped bail and evaded further trial proceedings. Efforts were made to trace her but she remained evasive. Cops had to declare her a proclaimed offender.