• Illicit drugs seized in Borno, Kano, Abuja

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have thwarted an attempt by a 26-year-old nursing student, Esther Onyinyechi Uzodinma, to ingest 76 wraps of cocaine before boarding her return flight to India.

The suspect, a 200-level student at Noida International University in Uttar Pradesh, was arrested at the Royal Park Hotel in Sabon Gari, Kano, last Thursday, according to a statement by the Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, Femi Babafemi.

Esther had planned to travel on Qatar Airways Flight 1432 to Delhi from the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA) the following morning, Babafemi said.

However, NDLEA operatives intercepted the consignment concealed in an audio speaker on a commuter bus on the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State.

The courier, Cosmas Okorie, 31, was arrested, leading to Esther’s subsequent apprehension.

According to Babafemi, Esther said a drug cartel in India recruited her for over $5,000 for the deal.

To avoid suspicion, she spent two weeks in an Enugu hotel and moved to Abuja before heading for Kano.

NDLEA officers also made multiple arrests and drug seizures across the country, Babafemi added.

 The agency officers arrested four suspects – Abdullahi Umar; Tijjani Samaila; Lucky Obotte and Abubakar Haruna – who were heading 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 cloths.

Also, in Lagos, operatives on January 14 raided the hideout of Nwokedi Emeka Jonas, 59, in Ojodu-Berger, where they recovered 10 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 4.9kg as well as various paper bags he uses in dispensing the psychoactive substance in retail quantities. Printed on them were street names and codes such as ‘Dead man’; ‘Gelato top shelf smoke’; ‘Topshelf’; and ‘Gelato cake.