Staff Reporter
Panaji
Crime branch of the Goa police have arrested fifth accused in connection with the Rs 43 crore cocaine seizure case. Police said that accused Tariro Mangwana, a Zimbabwe national, was residing in Vadodara, Gujarat. Based on Mangwana directions, one of the accused Reshma Wadekar had received money from another accused person, police said.
Referring to Reshma’s travel history, police had said that she had visited Thailand from where the contraband was possibly smuggled. The contraband was camouflaged in coffee, chocolate and wafer packets and was meant to be sold locally in Goa,
police said.
On April 14, the police in the biggest ever drug seizure had arrested three accused persons Nibu Vincent alias Wilson (45) a resident of Baina, Vasco and a native of Kolkata West Bengal, Reshma Wadekar and her husband Manguesh Wadekar, both from Sada, Mormugao.
Police said that based on the disclosure of Reshma that one person from Gujarat had transferred funds and air tickets to travel abroad. Following which police arrested the fourth accused Chirag Dudhat (32) from Gujarat. Police said that Dudhat confessed that he had transferred money to Reshma on directions of one ‘Mr Don’ who is a foreign national. Dudhat had received money through an online mobile app and the subsequent verification led police to the fifth accused Mangwana. He was arrested and is currently in judicial custody, police said.
On April 14, based on specific information the crime branch team conducted the raid near Chicolna bus stand, Mormugao and caught red-handed accused Vincent for being in possession 4.325 kilograms of white powder suspected to be ‘cocaine’, all worth Rs 43.20 crore. Following Vincent’s disclosure about his associates, the crime branch police traced and nabbed Reshma and Manguesh, police had said.
