A 26-year-old nursing student, Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, has been nabbed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), in an attempt to smuggle 76 wraps of cocaine to India.
Esther, a second-year student at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested at Royal Park Hotel in Sabon Gari, Kano, just hours before her scheduled Qatar Airways flight to Delhi on January 17, 2025.
This information was revealed in a statement by the agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and published on the agency’s website on Sunday.
The statement read, “An attempt by 26-year-old Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, a 200-level nursing student at Noida International University, Uttar Pradesh, India, to swallow 76 wraps of cocaine hours before her return flight to the South Asian country through Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, has been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
“Esther was scheduled to return to Delhi, India, from MAKIA, Kano, on Qatar Airways flight 1432 on Friday, 17 January 2025, but was arrested in her hotel room at 11:30 pm on Thursday, 16 January, at Royal Park Hotel, Sabon Gari, Kano, while awaiting the cocaine consignment she was meant to ingest before her flight the following morning.”
“Her operation was uncovered when NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Okene-Lokoja Highway in Kogi State on Thursday, 16 January, intercepted 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie in a commuter bus travelling from Lagos to Kano. Inside his black polythene bag was an audio speaker concealing 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.340 kilograms, which he intended to deliver to Esther in Kano.
“A swift follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the female nursing student later the same day.”
In her statement, Esther revealed that the drug cartel she was working for had recruited her in India and financed her trip to Nigeria to enjoy the Christmas and New Year holidays.
To keep her parents unaware of her presence in Nigeria, Esther avoided visiting her home state, Imo, and instead stayed in a hotel in Enugu for two weeks before being flown to Abuja and then Kano. She was accommodated at Royal Park Hotel, where she was instructed to ingest the 76 pellets of cocaine sent to her from Lagos before boarding her Qatar Airways flight to India.
Esther mentioned that she was promised over $5,000 upon the successful delivery of the illicit consignment.
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