The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has thwarted an attempt by a 26-year-old nursing student, Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, to smuggle 76 wraps of cocaine to India. Uzodinma, a 200-level student of nursing at Noida International University, Uttar Pradesh, India, was apprehended at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, hours before her scheduled flight.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said: “Esther was scheduled to return to Delhi, India, from MAKIA Kano on Qatar Airways flight 1432 on Friday, 17th January 2025, but was arrested in her room at 11:30 pm on Thursday, 16th January, at Royal Park Hotel, Sabon Gari, Kano, while awaiting the cocaine consignment she was to ingest before her flight the following morning.”

 

The arrest followed the interception of Cosmas Okorie, 31, by NDLEA operatives along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State. Babafemi disclosed that Okorie was found with an audio speaker containing 76 pellets of cocaine, weighing 1.34 kilograms, which he was to deliver to Uzodinma in Kano.

“A swift follow-up operation in Kano led to the arrest of the female nursing student later that same day,” Babafemi added. Uzodinma reportedly confessed that the drug cartel she worked for in India sponsored her trip to Nigeria for the Christmas and New Year holidays. She avoided visiting her home state of Imo to conceal her presence from her parents and stayed in hotels across Enugu, Abuja, and Kano before preparing to smuggle the drugs to India. She was promised $5,000 for successful delivery.

 

In related operations, NDLEA officers along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway arrested four suspects in commuter vehicles, seizing over 38,000 pills of tramadol concealed in audio speakers and clothing.

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Meanwhile, in Lagos, operatives recovered various illicit drugs, including 10 parcels of Canadian Loud from a hideout in Ojodu-Berger and 1,610 kilograms of cannabis from a residence in Igando New Town.

Other notable arrests include two suspects in Lekki, Lagos, found with 28 kilograms of Canadian Loud; Saheed Sulaiman in Lagos Island with 67 kilograms of skunk; and several suspects in Abuja and Kano with quantities of codeine, tramadol, and psychoactive substances.

The NDLEA also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities nationwide, delivering lectures to schools, religious centres, and communities. Advocacy efforts included visits to institutions such as NUD Basic Primary School in Oyo and Corpus Christi College in Ekiti, as well as a meeting with Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.

NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the agency’s officers for their dedication and urged them to intensify their efforts to combat drug trafficking and abuse.

 

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