The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 26-year-old Nigerian nursing student, Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, for attempting to smuggle cocaine. Uzodinma, a second-year student at Noida International University, India, was apprehended while preparing to ingest 76 pellets of cocaine ahead of her return flight to Delhi.
The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that Uzodinma was arrested at the Royal Park Hotel, Sabon Gari, Kano, late Thursday night, hours before her scheduled flight. The drugs were discovered following the arrest of a co-conspirator, 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie, along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State earlier that day.
Okorie, intercepted on a commuter bus, was found with an audio speaker concealing the cocaine pellets, which weighed 1.34 kilograms. According to Babafemi, a follow-up operation led to Uzodinmaโs capture in Kano.
Preliminary investigations revealed that Uzodinma was recruited by a drug cartel in India, which funded her travel to Nigeria under the guise of a holiday visit. During her stay, she avoided her home state of Imo to keep the trip a secret from her family, staying in Enugu and later moving to Abuja before traveling to Kano.
Uzodinma admitted she was to receive $5,000 for successfully delivering the drugs in India. She also revealed that her handlers orchestrated the operation to align with her return to school after the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Babafemi stressed the NDLEAโs commitment to dismantling drug cartels and called on young Nigerians to resist the lure of quick money through criminal activities.
The case underscores the agencyโs intensified efforts to combat drug trafficking, particularly among Nigerians traveling internationally. Investigations are ongoing to uncover more details about the drug syndicate and its operations.
