Drug cartel's hawala cash trail ends in washing machine in Goa
TGANB director Sandeep Shandilya, said the money, collected over just two days, was moments away from being laundered to Nigeria. "Had we delayed the raid by an hour, the entire amount would have been transferred. It was neatly stashed inside the washing machine, ready for dispatch," he said.
Following a month-long surveillance operation in Goa, TGANB --- assisted by Goa police --- zeroed in on hawala transactions being conducted from Sangeetha Mobile Shop in Mapusa and an apartment in Goa's Highland Park.
'Accused laundered over 2 crore of drug proceeds'
The key accused, Uttam Singh, who runs the mobile shop, was arrested. Investigators revealed he had laundered Rs 2.1 crore of drug proceeds in just one week.
"Drug money collected in cash was handed over to Uttam, often by foreign nationals. He then moved the funds to Mumbai through informal channels, and from there, it was transferred to Nigeria," Shandilya explained. The investigation into the hawala trail started after Nigerian national Emmanuel Bediako, alias Maxwell, revealed it to TGANB.
Between May 26 and June 1, officials tracked 58 hawala transactions involving Rs 2.1 crore. A few days after establishing this link, a raid on Highland Park apartment led to the recovery of Rs 50 lakh in cash. Over the past month, four Nigerian nationals have been arrested during TGANB operations in Goa.
Authorities believe Uttam is one of several hawala operators facilitating cross-border drug money transfers. Police officials suspect a wider network of hawala operators is active, working hand-in-glove with international narcotics cartels.
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