2 min readPuneJul 14, 2026 10:11 PM IST

The Anti-Narcotics Task Force (ANTF) of Maharashtra arrested a 30-year-old man hailing from Nagaland living in Pune in connection to an ongoing probe of Nagaland police following a seizure of cocaine. Police said that the name of the arrested man who worked for a private company in Pune had emerged in the backward linkages of the cocaine bust.

Following intelligence inputs, a team from the ANTF was tasked for the search of Yaka Awomi, who was known to be located in Pune, officials said. ANTF team found out that the suspect had been living in a plus residential society in Handewadi. Awomi was wanted in the case registered at West Dimapur police station in Nagaland. The police team arrested him from his residential society on Sunday when he was preparing to flee. The details of the arrest were shared with the media on Tuesday.

“The suspect had been living in the Handewadi area with his family for the last three years and he has been working for a private company in the food industry. Earlier this year, Nagaland police registered a case following seizure of cocaine. The role of this suspect had emerged in the backward linkages of the seized contraband. Probe suggests that he had procured the cocaine from a Nigerian national in Delhi. This suspect had been involved in distribution of cocaine, probe suggests,” said an officer. ANTF officials said that the top brass of Maharashtra were closely monitoring the case considering its inter-state nature and possible international linkages.

Officials said the accused would be transferred to Nagaland police for further investigation.