Delhi Police has busted an international drug cartel allegedly targeting students by bringing African nationals to India on the pretext of pursuing education and using them to peddle heroin worth over Rs 1 crore, an official said on Friday.

Two foreign nationals, identified as Humphrey Muwong (33) from Uganda and Chukwu Ebuka Umeh (36) from Nigeria, have been arrested and 700 grams of high-grade heroin worth over Rs 1 crore has been seized, he said.

The official said that the two accused were allegedly part of a larger cartel working under the instructions of Dagri Jean Marc, a Nigerian national based in Africa. Marc brought African nationals into India under the guise of pursuing education and then deployed them in the narcotics trade, he added.

Marc, who had previously lived in India, is believed to have built a strong narcotics distribution network operating from Tilak Nagar, a senior police officer said. The cartel reportedly misused student visas as a cover for illegal activities, bringing African nationals to India under the guise of pursuing higher education at private universities in Delhi-NCR and Punjab, police said.