This archive report was first published on 7 October 2019.
On October 7, 2019, The Times of India reported on the arrest of Mariam Mweke, a 36-year-old Kenyan woman, who had been living in India illegally.
Ms Mweke was arrested by New Delhi's police last week at her hideout in Nalasopara, Mumbai, after a more than seven-month hunt that included placing a Ksh73,000 ($730) bounty on her head.
According to Pramod Kushwaha, a senior officer with the New Delhi police, Ms Mweke's run-ins with the Indian authorities began in 2016 when she was arrested alongside two of her associates with over 7.5 kilos of heroin.
After completing investigations, a charge sheet was filed against the three on November 1, 2018, and on January 7, 2019, she was granted bail. However, she jumped bail and evaded the trial proceedings, prompting a search and placing of a bounty on her head.
Ms Mweke is said to have revealed that she had shifted her base from Maharashtra to Nalasopara where she reorganised and continued with the illegal business.
"She said her associates used to procure heroin from various Afghan nationals in Delhi for further supply in various parts of the country," The Times of India reported.
