Hyderabad: A Nigerian national, Ezeonyili Franklin Uchenna alias Kelech, who was accused of being part of a drug network that had run a ₹9.5 crore narcotics business, claimed that he is poor and cannot furnish a ₹25,000 surety to meet his bail condition.Though he was granted bail in April after being in judicial remand for more than a year in a case registered by Film Nagar police, the judge directed him to execute a personal bond of ₹25,000 along with two sureties of ₹25,000 each. As he remained in jail despite obtaining bail, he filed another petition seeking a reduction of the surety amount to ₹5,000. The court, after hearing his petition, reduced it to ₹15,000.Kelech is alleged to be working for Divine Ebuka Suzee and his wife, Uche Happiness, who operate a pan-India drug network. He is stated to be a key associate involved in facilitating drug supplies.After a year-long effort, EAGLE sleuths arrested him at Ibrahimbagh and 17 gram of MDMA was seized from him. A pen drive recovered from him reportedly contained information on 411 Africans, along with documents and receipts of financial transactions linked to the narcotics network. Based on the analysis of the pen drive data, the police found that Kelech and his associates had carried out a ₹9.5 crore drug business.The prosecution had earlier opposed both his bail and the subsequent request to reduce the surety amount. However, since the prosecution failed to file a chargesheet, the court granted bail. The prosecution also opposed the reduction of surety, stating that the accused is a Nigerian national, a resident of Mysuru, and has no permanent address in Hyderabad.“He could not be released from judicial custody as he failed to furnish sureties for the amount ordered by this Court due to his poor financial capacity. Therefore, in these circumstances, I am of the considered view that the petitioner has shown sufficient cause for reduction in the surety amount as ordered by this Court,” the court said on Friday.Suzee’s network is involved in several sensational NDPS cases, including supplying drugs to the brother of a popular Bollywood actress in 2024.
