Kochi, March 7 (ENS): The sensational cocaine seizure case involving actor Shine Tom took a new twist with the police arresting a Nigerian native who allegedly supplied cocaine to Reshma, the first accused in the case.

The police arrested Okowe Chigozie Collins, 29, from Mandrem, North Goa, on Wednesday, and brought him to Kochi by road on Friday. According to Ernakulam Central CI Francis Shelby, Okowe was arrested around 5:00 pm on Wednesday, with the assistance of the Anti-Narcotic Cell of the Goa Police, from a rented house where he was staying with several other Nigerian nationals. He was produced before a magistrate court on Thursday and was brought to Kochi. He will be produced before the court on Saturday morning.

The police team from Kochi, comprising circle inspector Francis Shelby and five others, had reached Goa on Tuesday. Reshma and Blessy, who were arrested along with three others on January 30 from an apartment in the city for possessing/using cocaine at a smoke party, had given wrong information to the police that they had purchased heroine from a person named Franko in Goa in the last week of December 2014.

However, on examining the call details of the mobile phone of Reshma it was found that she had received several calls from a mobile number registered in Goa on January 30. Later, when the police traced down the phone number, the involvement of Okowe came to light. With the assistance of the Cyber Cell, it was found that Okowe had reached Ernakulam South railway station on January 30 morning by Mangala Express for handing over cocaine to Reshma. In the CCTV footage from the South railway station, Reshma was seen along with Okowe. From the railway station she took him to the apartment at Kadavanthra, where he sold 10 gm of cocaine to the other accused for Rs 35,000-40,000. During interrogation, Okowe told the police that he had left for Goa by bus, which is being investigated.

According to the police, Reshma and Okowe knew each other through another friend in Goa. Okowe introduced himself by different names.

He is also known as Frank and Franko among drug peddlers in Goa. He admitted that he came to Kochi for the first time. He confessed to the police that he had supplied cocaine and other narcotic substance to people in Maharastra, Karanataka and Tamil Nadu. He introduced himself as a textile merchant to the police before taken into custody.

The officials said that the cocaine supplied by Okowe was not of good quality. The police said that Okowe is a drug-peddler, and was arrested two case in the past in connection with cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act at Pune and Goa. Okowe, who had been living in Goa for more than four years, was also arrested for visa overstaying.

Drugs Reach thru Tourists

Kochi: The team probing the cocaine case have got information that narcotic substances like cocaine and LSD are transported to India mainly by Nigerian and Russian tourists The officers, who had been to Goa in connection with the probe, said that such tourists supply drugs only to persons whom they are familiar with. They use coded language for handing over the narcotics.