Thursday, January 15, 2026 - Indian authorities have deported a Nigerian national, Victor Obasi, for illegal stay in the country and alleged drug trafficking.
According to the Times of India, Victor, a resident of New
Delhi, was apprehended by the Hyderabad Narcotics Enforcement Wing in the
Tolichowki area of Hyderabad late last month.
The police were said to have intercepted him moving under
what they described as suspicious circumstances.
The news platform added that his passport and visa had
expired years ago, and he was unable to produce any valid documentation during
questioning.
“Following his arrest, authorities-initiated deportation
proceedings in coordination with the Foreigners Regional Registration Office,
Hyderabad, and the Nigerian High Commission in New Delhi.
“Because Victor’s travel documents were no longer valid, the
Nigerian mission issued him an Emergency Travel Document, while Indian
officials provided an exit permit to facilitate his removal. He was
subsequently flown back to Lagos, Nigeria, from Rajiv Gandhi International
Airport on January 13, 2026,” the platform wrote.
t Victor originally
entered India on a tourist visa via Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport on December 31, 2011, and later established himself in various business
ventures, including a cloth export trade and operating a restaurant in Delhi.
However, after his official status expired, he continued to
reside in India without legal permission.
During the investigation, police said he had, over the
years, come into contact with drug peddlers and individuals suspected of drug
trafficking, and that his activities were considered potentially harmful to
national security.
“The action was taken to prevent the suspect from engaging
in further unlawful activities that could pose a threat to national security,”
police told reporters as they outlined the case.
This case followed an arrest made just days earlier in the
same city involving Victor and another Nigerian national, Chidi Ezeh (42), who
was detained with 150 grams of MDMA—a synthetic drug—during a separate
intelligence-led operation.
In that incident, authorities said Ezeh had remained
illegally in India after his visa expired and was part of a wider syndicate
supplying drugs across Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other cities.
On his part, Victor was described by police as a first-time
offender who entered India in 2011 on a tourist visa and later went into
business before being linked to the current case.
However, authorities said his illegal immigration status
made him liable for immediate removal from the country after preliminary
investigations.
According to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Hyderabad
Narcotics Enforcement Wing, Vaibhav Gaikwad, Ezeh would be charged under the
relevant provisions of India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act,
while investigations into the wider network were ongoing.
“Incidents like this highlight the sophisticated
transnational networks that continue to traffic illicit substances into our
cities. Our intelligence-driven operations are aimed at dismantling these
networks and preventing further criminal activity,” Gaikwad added.
The Hyderabad police have reiterated their commitment to
cracking down on illegal residency, drug trafficking and organised crime
networks, urging citizens to assist law enforcement with credible information
and to report suspicious activity.
This is the third drug-related case involving Nigerians in
India reported by this newspaper this month, following earlier arrests in Delhi
and other cities where cocaine and other synthetic substances were seized from
suspected members of foreign-linked drug syndicates.
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