NDLEA Prevents Student from Swallowing 76 Cocaine Wraps at Kano Airport

Operatives from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have successfully intercepted a 26-year-old student, Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, as she tried to swallow 76 wraps of cocaine just before her flight back to India.

The nursing student, currently enrolled at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, was apprehended at the Royal Park Hotel in Sabon Garin Kano on Thursday, January 16, 2025, while she was preparing to ingest the cocaine to smuggle it to India the next day.

Uzodinma had been scheduled to board Qatar Airways Flight 1432 at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) on Friday, January 17, 2025, for her flight to Delhi. However, her plan was disrupted when NDLEA agents intercepted 31-year-old Cosmas Okorie traveling from Lagos to Kano on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.

Okorie, who was on a commuter bus, was found to be carrying 76 cocaine pellets weighing 1.34 kilograms, concealed inside an audio speaker. It is alleged that he was transporting the drugs to Uzodinma in Kano.

After Okorie’s arrest, NDLEA swiftly followed up with another operation that led to Uzodinma’s capture in Kano. The student admitted to working for a drug syndicate that had recruited her while she was in India.

She explained that she had been paid for her trip to Nigeria during the Christmas and New Year holidays. To avoid her parents discovering her presence in the country, she stayed in hotels in Enugu, Abuja, and Kano. She was instructed to swallow the cocaine before boarding her flight back to India, where she had been promised a sum of over $5,000 for delivering the drugs.

In separate operations, NDLEA agents arrested four individuals—Abdullahi Umar, Tijjani Samaila, Lucky Obotte, and Abubakar Haruna—along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja highway. They were found transporting more than 38,000 tramadol pills, hidden inside audio speakers and clothing.

On January 14, 2025, NDLEA agents conducted a raid on the hideout of 59-year-old Nwokedi Emeka Jonas in the Ojodu-Berger area of Lagos, where they seized 10 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic cannabis strain weighing 4.9kg. Various paper bags marked with street names such as ‘Dead man’, ‘Gelato top shelf smoke’, and ‘Gelato cake’ were also recovered, which were presumably used for retail distribution.

Meanwhile, in Lagos, NDLEA officers raided a property in the Igando New Town area of Alimosho on January 15, where they arrested three individuals—Isaac Vincent, 32; Ebube Ikechi, 25; and Christopher Usifoh, 43—and seized 1,610kg of skunk, a cannabis strain, as well as 6kg of tramadol pills. Additionally, a delivery van and three other vehicles used for transporting the illicit substances were confiscated.

On January 18, another operation in Lagos led to the arrest of Olashile Okoya and Mohammed Ibrahim at their residence in Osapa, Lekki. Officers recovered 28 kilograms of Canadian Loud.

In Kano, on January 17, two suspects, Usama Adamu, 25, and Isah Ibrahim, 29, were arrested with 7.6kg of skunk, 78 tubes of rubber solution, and 356 bottles of ‘suck and die’, a new psychoactive substance. Another suspect, Usman Isa, 29, was apprehended on Zaria Road with 49.8kg of skunk.

In Kwara State, NDLEA agents arrested three suspects—Lawali Isiaka, Umoru Isiaka, and Mohammed Kabiru—on January 15, with 390 Molly tablets and 65.5kg of cannabis in Bode Saadu, Moro Local Council. Additionally, Samuel Ogbu, 24, was detained with 25,000 tramadol pills in Taraba State.

In Abuja, 27-year-old Rufa’i Hashimu was arrested in the Gwarimpa area with 118 bottles of codeine-based syrup. Thirteen other suspects were detained across various locations, including IDP camps and residential areas, with various quantities of tramadol, diazepam, and methamphetamine.