40 per cent of foreigners held for drug crimes are Nigerians

New Delhi: Nigerians constituted about 40 per cent of the foreigners arrested for drug crimes in the country last year, according to a latest report by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

According to the data compiled by the central agency for the year 2017, out of the total 397 foreigners arrested in India for drug crimes, 157 were Nigerians, 95 were from Nepal, 46 from Myanmar and 13 from South Africa.

Nigerians, according to the NCB data, account for 40 per cent of the foreigners’ arrested for drug and related crimes in the country last year.  

The drugs bureau was tasked to coordinate efforts against the drug menace has arrested 21 Nigerians, while the remaining were apprehended by other departments, including various state police units.

A senior official in the anti-narcotics establishment said that these figures reflect a trend of the involvement of the Nigerians and those from other African countries in such crimes.

In 2016, the official said, 68 Nigerians and 91 Nepalese nationals were arrested across the country for different drug crimes, followed by as many as 27 persons from Myanmar and five from South Africa.

“These figures (of arrests of foreign nationals), by and large, remain the same each year. We have found that the poor socio-economic conditions of those belonging to the African nations are responsible for their attraction to do such crimes,” the NCB official said.

“All these cases are also brought to the notice of local embassies or high commissions of the respective countries as the proceedings under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) continue,” the official said.

The nationals of other countries who were arrested for drug and related crimes in the year 2017 include Bolivia (7), Bangladesh (6), Sri Lanka (6), Uganda and Rwanda (5 each) and Venezuela (4) and the like, the official added.