A joint operation by Delhi Police has busted an intricate network of Nigerian nationals involved in visa forgery and cyber fraud. The arrests of four African nationals in Burari’s Sant Nagar area uncovered a dual operation that provided forged travel documents to overstaying foreigners and simultaneously ran online scams to cheat Indian citizens.
The crackdown began after the arrest of two African nationals — Benjamin Izuchukwu and Coulibaly Mariam — on September 10 with 355 grams of cocaine. During the investigation, police found their visas were forged, leading them to a larger racket.
Further investigation and technical surveillance led to the arrest of four more Nigerian nationals: Nwachukwu Benjamin (33), Emmanuel Ifeanyichukwu (34), Paul Olisameka (37) and Precious Osasere (38). All four were living illegally in India and their visas have expired.
The mastermind, Nwachukwu Benjamin, who entered India in 2017 via the “dunky route,” was found to be operating the entire forgery ring. His modus operandi involved scanning passports, digitally creating fake visa pages and then pasting them into the original passports. He charged a fee of Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 per forged visa.
Police recovered a laptop, a colour printer, mobile phones, pen drives and six forged passports and visas from the accused. They also seized Rs 17,000 in cash, two passbooks and five ATM cards. Alongside the visa forgery, Benjamin and his associates were running a sophisticated online fraud racket. They created fake social media profiles of Europeans and lured Indian citizens with fabricated stories. Victims were told that expensive goods were stuck at customs and were asked to transfer money into compromised bank accounts. The amounts were then withdrawn through ATMs or laundered through multiple accounts to hide the money trail.
Police officials stated that this dual operation served as a parallel revenue stream for the accused, enabling other drug traffickers and illegal foreigners to continue their criminal activities in India. The police are now working to identify the original suppliers of the forged templates and trace the beneficiaries of these fake documents. This latest bust is part of a series of successful operations by the South District Police in the last 15 days, which have led to the seizure of over 73 kg of ganja and 354 grams of cocaine.