A 26-year-old nursing student named Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma attempted to smuggle 76 wraps of cocaine into India, but the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency stopped her.
Hours before her scheduled January 17, 2025, Qatar Airways flight to Delhi, Esther, a 200-level student at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested at the Royal Park Hotel in Sabon Gari, Kano.
This was revealed in a statement posted on the agency’s website on Sunday and signed by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy.
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 arrest came after a sting operation in which Cosmas Okorie, a courier, was caught delivering the cocaine while hiding it in an audio speaker.
The statement added, “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.”
According to Esther’s account, she was recruited in India by the drug cartel she worked for, which also covered the cost of her trip to Nigeria to celebrate the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Instead of going to her home state of Imo, Esther slept in a hotel in Enugu for two weeks before being flown to Abuja and then Kano to keep her parents from finding out she was in Nigeria. Before she boarded her Qatar Airways trip to India, she was told to consume the 76 cocaine pellets that were given to her from Lagos while she was staying at the Royal Park Hotel.
Esther claimed that when the illegal consignment was successfully delivered, she was promised more than $5,000.
Four suspects were also detained by NDLEA officers on the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Highway when they were delivering more than 38,000 tramadol pills that were hidden in clothing and audio speakers that were headed for Maiduguri, Kano, and Abuja.
“In other operations along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Highway, NDLEA officers arrested four suspects: Abdullahi Umar, Tijjani Samaila, Lucky Obotte, and Abubakar Haruna, who were travelling to Maiduguri, Borno State, Kano, and Abuja in commuter vehicles with over 38,000 pills of tramadol (225mg, 250mg, and 100mg) concealed in audio speakers and clothing,” the statement said.
NDLEA agents conducted several raids in Lagos, apprehending a number of individuals and confiscating substantial amounts of illegal substances. Ten packages of Canadian Loud cannabis (4.9 kg) and packaging materials bearing street names like “Dead Man” and “Gelato Cake” were found during an Ojodu-Berger operation.
In Igando, three suspects were caught in possession of vehicles used for drug distribution, 1,610 kg of cannabis, and 6 kg of tramadol. While searches in Lagos Island and other parts of Lekki found 67kg of cannabis, codeine syrup, tramadol, Molly, methamphetamine, and ₦623,650 in cash, another raid in Lekki recovered 28kg of Canadian Loud.
The statement continued, “In Lagos, operatives of a special operations unit of the agency on Tuesday, 14 January, raided the hideout of a 59-year-old, Nwokedi Emeka Jonas, in the Ojodu-Berger area of the state, where they recovered 10 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 4.9kg, as well as different paper bags he used for dispensing the psychoactive substance in retail quantities. Printed on the bags were street names and codes such as ‘Dead Man’, ‘Gelato Top Shelf Smoke’, ‘Topshelf’, and ‘Gelato Cake’.
“In other operations in Lagos, operatives of the State Command of the Agency on Wednesday, 15 January, raided a house in Igando New Town, Alimosho, where they arrested three suspects: Isaac Vincent (32), Ebube Ikechi (25), and Christopher Usifoh (43). They recovered 1,610kg of skunk, a strain of cannabis, and 6kg of tramadol pills. Also recovered from the house were a delivery van and three vehicles used for distributing the illicit drugs.
“Two suspects, Olashile Okoya and Mohammed Ibrahim, were arrested on Saturday, 18 January, when NDLEA officers raided their home at 5A Addison Palmer, Cadogan Estate, Castle Rock Avenue, Osapa, Lekki, Lagos, where 28kg of Canadian Loud was recovered following credible intelligence.
“Not less than 67kg of skunk was seized from Saheed Sulaiman on Thursday, 16 January, when NDLEA operatives raided his Edumare Street, Lagos Island hideout. Various quantities of assorted illicit substances were also recovered from Adamu Abdullahi on Tuesday, 14 January, when NDLEA officers raided his hideout at Jerry Irabi Estate, Lekki. These included 3.7 litres of codeine syrup, 10,000 pills of tramadol, 1,670 tablets of Rohypnol, 6.5kg of cannabis, 3,100 tablets of diazepam, 10,090 tablets of Molly, 5,500 tablets of Exol-5, 1.2kg of methamphetamine crisps, and ₦623,650 in cash.”
In the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano, NDLEA agents detained two suspects in possession of 356 bottles of the psychoactive drug “Suck and Die,” 78 tubes of rubber solution, and 7.6 kg of skunk. Following another investigation along Zaria Road, a suspect was apprehended in possession of 114 blocks of 49.8 kg skunk.
The statement added, “In Kano, two suspects, Usama Adamu (25) and Isah Ibrahim (29), were arrested on Friday, 17 January, at Dawanau, Dawakin Tofa LGA, where 7.6kg of skunk, 78 tubes of rubber solution, and 356 bottles of ‘Suck and Die’, a new psychoactive substance, were recovered. In another raid in Kano, Usman Isa (29) was nabbed along Zaria Road with 114 blocks of skunk weighing 49.8kg.”
In Taraba, a suspect was found carrying 25,000 tramadol pills along the Wukari-Zaki Ibiam Road, while in Kwara, three suspects were apprehended in Bode Saadu with 390 Molly tablets and 65.5 kg of cannabis.
“Three suspects, Lawali Isiaka, Umoru Isiaka, and Mohammed Kabiru, were arrested on Wednesday, 15 January, by NDLEA operatives with 390 tablets of Molly and 65.5kg of cannabis at Bode Saadu in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State. Meanwhile, Samuel Ogbu (24) was nabbed with 25,000 pills of tramadol along Wukari-Zaki Ibiam Road, Wukari Local Government Area, Taraba State,” the statement concluded.