Hyderabad: In a high-stakes bust that spans continents and crosses the murky worlds of romance scams, forex fraud, and narcotics trade, Telangana Anti Narcotics Bureau on Saturday unearthed a sophisticated drug money laundering racket involving over Rs 6.64 crore. The operation stretched from the United States to India and Nigeria, revealing a criminal web as intricate as it was audacious.
Officials said they could trace transactions of only the past five years and suspect that hundreds of crores may have been laundered as the gang had been operating for several years.
“At the heart of the scheme is Divine Ebuka Suzee, a Nigerian national who entered India on a tourist visa and quickly built a network to move drug profits undetected. Though Suzee returned to Nigeria in 2023, his syndicate continued operations through a chain of accomplices—many of whom had entered India on tourist or student visas, lured by the promise of quick, easy cash,” said Sandeep Shandilya, director of the bureau.
Police officials came to know about the elaborate operation after nabbing three of Suzee’s associates, Ugwu Ikechukwu alias Emma, Chukwu Ogbonna alias Big Joe, and Mohammed Mateen Siddiqui. While Emma and Big Jo are Nigerians, Siddiqui is a Hyderabad resident who operates as a forex agent. It was Siddiqui who unravelled the entire money trail.
One of the most chilling aspects of the operation was its use of romance scams to entrap unsuspecting women in the US, particularly divorced Latina ones. Using fake profiles and stolen US passport data, one of the accused, Emma, posed as a romantic interest online.
Once trust was gained, victims were coaxed into sharing bank and credit card information, which was then used to receive drug payments from US-based customers. “The financial network was as sophisticated as the drug operation itself,” explained an investigator.
Once the funds hit these mule accounts, the money flowed seamlessly across borders. Smaller amounts (under $2,500) were routed through money transfer services like Western Union, RIA Money, and MoneyGram, primarily from California to Hyderabad.
For larger sums, the syndicate turned to bank accounts of Indians in the US, leveraging local forex agents to convert and move the funds. Siddiqui, who ran Fine Multiple Service, emerged as a key player. Siddiqui supplied bank accounts and processed high-volume illegal transfers, pocketing double the usual commission for the risk, investigators said.
Investigations revealed that Emma alone received over $1,00,000 (Rs 85 lakh) through 110 individual transactions. Another node in the network, Anand Jain of Goyam Forex, helped funnel larger amounts via Indian American accounts. Jain had already been on the radar of Enforcement Directorate (ED) for earlier offences.
The final stage involved physical cash transfers to Mumbai, where Chukwu Ogbonna alias Big Joe handed over the laundered money to Nigerian businessmen in garments trade. From there, the funds were transferred to Suzee in Nigeria through internal account movements.
Investigators tracked fund flows of Nigerian naira ₦6.6 crore (Rs 36.84 lakh), $6,34,426, and Rs 85.4 lakh (totalling Rs 6.6 crore) through various illegal channels.
“Everyone in the chain knew they were dealing with dirty money. That’s why each link charged premium rates—it wasn’t just a service, it was a risk premium,” said the lead investigator.