The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 26-year-old nursing student from Noida International University, India, for allegedly preparing to ingest 76 wraps of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle them.
According to NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the suspect was apprehended at the Royal Park Hotel in Sabon Gari, Kano, on Thursday night, hours before her scheduled flight to Delhi, India, via Qatar Airways. She was awaiting the cocaine consignment she was meant to ingest before boarding her flight.
The arrest was triggered earlier that day when NDLEA operatives intercepted a 31-year-old male accomplice during a patrol along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State. The man, traveling from Lagos to Kano in a commuter bus, was found carrying an audio speaker concealing 76 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.34 kilograms.
Following his confession, NDLEA agents conducted a follow-up operation that led to the nursing student’s arrest in Kano.
The suspect admitted to being recruited by a drug cartel in India, which sponsored her trip to Nigeria under the guise of a Christmas and New Year holiday. To avoid detection, she avoided her home state, Imo, and stayed in a hotel in Enugu for two weeks before traveling to Kano via Abuja. She was promised $5,000 (approximately ₦9 million) upon successfully delivering the cocaine to India.
The NDLEA has detained the suspect and her accomplice for prosecution.