Hyderabad: Conviction rates of foreigners in narcotics cases remain abysmally low in Telangana, with more than three-fourths of those arrested now absconding. Despite hundreds of arrests over the past decade, most cases drag on for years in court, exposing serious gaps in enforcement and trial processes.According to state police data, since 2010 Telangana police have arrested 329 foreigners in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cases, while prohibition and excise officials arrested 45 foreigners, mostly for drug peddling. A majority of accused hail from African nations such as Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Ghana, Sudan, Tanzania, Liberia, and Uganda, with some from even Yemen.Out of 329 arrested by police, only five were convicted and 20 acquitted. In excise cases, none of the 45 accused foreigners was convicted, and just one was acquitted. The rest remain untraced—252 offenders arrested by police and 40 by excise officials are absconding, with non-bailable warrants pending against them since they were not responding to summons, or summons were not getting delivered, or were out of view (warrants could not be served).Officials say most foreigners are caught peddling cocaine, MDMA, LSD, and ganja. “They furnish cash sureties, self-sureties or fake sureties and change address after bail. They don’t keep passport copies to avoid identification. Once they get bail and leave the state, it becomes difficult to track them. Most again start peddling drugs from other cities under different names,” said an Eagle Force official.Divine Ebuka Suzee, a Nigerian, was arrested along with his girlfriend of Ivory Coast from a house at Nanal Nagar in July 2019 with 106 grams of cocaine. He spent six months in prison before securing bail and has been on the run ever since, repeatedly surfacing in drug cases as a handler.In April 2025, Telangana Anti-Narcotics Bureau raided a house in Upparpally and arrested his associates Ugwu Ikechukwu alias Emma, Chukwu Ogbonna alias Big Joe, and a money transfer agent, Mohammed Mateen Siddiqui, with cocaine and MDMA. Ebuka’s brother, Ezeonyili Franklin Uchenna alias Kelech, was also arrested with MDMA near Taramati Baradari.All the accused are currently in judicial remand since the quantity of the drug seized was of commercial quantity. Despite nine pending cases against him, officials say Ebuka jumped bail in 2020 and is suspected to have fled the country in 2023 via Bangladesh, now operating from Nigeria. His aide Zaidi Pascal, caught at Tarnaka by excise sleuths in July 2020 with 104 grams of cocaine, is likely to be declared a proclaimed offender. Others, including Emmanuel Osondu and Emmanuel Ummudu, have also absconded.Currently, NBWs are pending against 88 foreigners, while 23 are in jail and 28 attend court hearings. “We argue against bail as much as possible, saying the accused will abscond. But once investigation is over, bail is granted and most disappear. In some cases, if the quantity is small and identity is clear, instead of arresting, we deport them,” said a police source.In 2025 alone, 41 foreigners were deported from Telangana for involvement in NDPS cases or violations of the Foreigners Act.
