Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have successfully arrested a 26-year-old nursing student, Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, for attempting to smuggle 76 wraps of cocaine.
Esther, a 200-level student at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, India, was intercepted just hours before her return flight to India at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) on January 17, 2025.
Esther had been staying at the Royal Park Hotel in Kano while waiting to ingest the 76 pellets of cocaine according to a statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEA spokesman.
Babafemi said: "Her lid was blown open when NDLEA operatives on patrol along Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi state on Thursday 16th January intercepted 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie in a commuter bus coming from Lagos enroute Kano.
"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 same day.
"In her statement, Esther 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.
"To avoid her parents knowing she was in Nigeria, Esther did not travel to her home state, Imo but was lodged for two weeks in a hotel in Enugu, from where she was flown to Abuja and then Kano where she was lodged at Royal Park Hotel to swallow the 76 pellets of cocaine sent to her from Lagos before taking her 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."
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