- This led to a swift operation in Kano, culminating in Uzodinma’s arrest at the Royal Park Hotel in the Sabon Gari area
Esther Uzodinma, a 26-year-old nursing student at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, India, has been arrested in connection with a failed attempt to smuggle cocaine.
The Imo State native was apprehended on January 16 in Kano State after her attempt to ingest 76 wraps of cocaine, weighing 1.34 kilograms, was foiled.
Uzodinma was reportedly working for a drug cartel based in India, which had arranged for her to travel to Nigeria for the festive season.
According to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the consignment of cocaine was concealed in an audio speaker and transported by an accomplice, Cosmas Okorie, who was intercepted by NDLEA operatives on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.
This led to a swift operation in Kano, culminating in Uzodinma’s arrest at the Royal Park Hotel in the Sabon Gari area.
In her statement, Uzodinma revealed she was promised $5,000 upon successfully delivering the drugs to India. The cartel had lodged her in a hotel in Enugu for two weeks to avoid detection by her family before arranging her trip to Kano, where she was scheduled to ingest the cocaine and board a Qatar Airways flight to Delhi via the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport.
The NDLEA has described the arrest as part of its ongoing efforts to dismantle international drug trafficking networks and prevent the exploitation of young Nigerians in the drug trade.
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