In a scene worthy of an action movie, Police chased a Nigerian drug dealer and his two companions for nearly 15 km along the North Goa beach belt late Saturday night. In the chase from Calangute to Saligao via Pilerne, two police vehicles were damaged and two police personnel were injured in the ensuing flight. The chase ended when the drug dealer’s car went off the road and turned turtle in a field in Saligao.
According to the reports, three Nigerians included a woman who was later arrested. Ferninand Okonkwo, 47, Michael Okafo, 38, and Ogechukwu Precious Anutanwa, 29 were found with different types of drugs worth over Rs. 1.5 lakhs.
Based on information about the dealer, the Police laid a trap at Calangute. The three arrived in a car driven by Okonkwo, outside a resort along the Calangute-Mapusa road, late on Saturday night.
Three police cars and three two-wheelers immediately surrounded the drug dealer’s vehicle. While trying to escape, Okonkwo reversed his car, hitting two police vehicles and damaging them, while injuring two police personnel’s as well. He managed to flee, but the Calangute Police team, led by PI Nolasco Raposo, gave them chase.
In a bid to shake off the police team off his back, the Nigerian fled towards Candolim, then heading towards Pilerne. The police vehicle, driven by Vishal Naik, managed to keep up with the drug dealer’s car.
While speeding towards Pilerne, onwards to Saligao, Okonkwo lost control of his car at a sharp turn near Harmalkar Residency and his vehicle landed in the field and turned turtle. The trio who were trapped in an overturned car, was then apprehended by the Calangute Police.
After the three were searched, they were found in illegal possession of 16g cocaine, 13g MDMA, 0.70 ecstasy tablets and 0.18g LSD all worth Rs. 1,54,000/-. Since the accused were nabbed in Saligao, a Saligao police team lead by PSI Suraj Kankonkar arrived and registered an offense against Okonkwo, Okafo and Anutanwa.
The police have arrested them under section 21(b), 22(b), 22(c), and 29 of the NDPS Act, as well as under relevant sections of the IPC dealing with rash and negligent driving and endangering human life.
Raposo stated that this was possible only due to the initiative of the Calangute Police and since it is a commercial case of drugs he appealed to the public to help in controlling the drug menace. Further investigation is underway.
The Calangute Police team also comprised of PSI Rajaram Bhagkar, PSI Vishal Mandrekar, PC Vinay Shrivastav, PC Shashank Shakalkar, PC Suresh Naik, PC Dinesh Morajkar and the driver Vishal Naik.
Source: TOI
