The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has reported the arrest of 26-year-old Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, a 200-level nursing student at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, India.
She was apprehended at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, while attempting to swallow 76 pellets of cocaine just hours before her scheduled return flight to India.
The NDLEA’s Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who made this known in a statement issued on Sunday, said Esther was scheduled to return to Delhi, India from MAKIA Kano on Qatar Airways flight 1432 on Friday but was arrested in her room at 11:30 pm on Thursday at Royal Park Hotel, Sabon Garin Kano.
He said the student was arrested while awaiting the cocaine she was to ingest before her flight the following morning.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Esther’s cover was blown open when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state on Thursday intercepted one 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie in a commuter bus coming from Lagos en route to Kano.
Babafemi said, “Inside his black polythene bag was an audio speaker, which was used to conceal 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.340 kilograms, which he was going to deliver to Esther in Kano.
“A swift follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the female nursing university student later the same day.”
He said Esther in her statement claimed the drug cartel she was working for recruited her in India and paid for her trip to Nigeria to enjoy her Christmas and New Year holidays.
According to the NDLEA, Uzodinma revealed that during her two-week stay in Nigeria, she deliberately avoided visiting her home state of Imo to keep her trip a secret from her parents.
Instead, she stayed at a hotel in Enugu before travelling to Abuja and then Kano, where she was accommodated at Royal Park Hotel. While in Kano, she was ingest 76 pellets of cocaine to be sent to her from Lagos, before boarding a Qatar Airways flight to India on Friday morning.
“She said she was promised over $5,000 upon successful delivery of the illicit consignment in India,” Babafemi added
