Doris Etumudon, a Nigerian woman has been arrested by Indian authorities at Panvel Railway Station, Maharashtra, with narcotics estimated to be worth over N6 billion.
Doris Etumudon was apprehended on Friday while reportedly travelling with a child identified as Miracle.
The arrest was the outcome of a coordinated operation involving the Railway Protection Force (RPF) of Central Railway, Panvel, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), Bengaluru, and the Crime Intelligence Branch, Kurla, Mumbai, according to a Saturday report by Deccan Herald, an Indian news outlet.
She was said to have boarded Train No. 12618 Hazrat Nizamuddin–Ernakulam Mangala Express, and was intercepted after actionable intelligence was received by the NCB’s Bengaluru unit.
“Acting on specific intelligence, a joint operation was launched and a search was conducted on the train’s arrival at Platform No. 7, Panvel Railway Station,” Central Railway officials stated.
During the operation, officers reportedly identified a Nigerian woman seated in Coach A-2, Seat No. 27, carrying a multicoloured travel bag and accompanied by a child. Upon questioning, she identified herself as Doris from Nigeria, and claimed the child, Miracle, was her own.
The RPF confirmed that “upon interrogation in the presence of independent witnesses, the woman confessed to carrying narcotic substances.” She was immediately taken to the RPF post at Panvel for a thorough examination.
Inside her travel bag, authorities discovered two rectangular black packages wrapped in rubber and labelled “VINTAGE.” Drug test kits confirmed the contents to be cocaine, weighing 2.002 kilograms.
Further inspection uncovered a red-and-blue Mickey Mouse-themed children’s bag concealed within the main luggage.
“This smaller bag contained two paper packages, one labelled “Kellogg’s Corn Flakes” and the other “Bongchi Perfect Roll.” Both packages contained a white crystalline substance later identified as methamphetamine, weighing 1.488 kilograms.
“The seized narcotics, with a combined estimated market value of approximately Rs 36 crore, were taken into custody,” CR authorities stated.
Etumudon is now the second Nigerian woman to be arrested in India in under two months for allegedly trafficking commercial quantities of illegal drugs. She joins a growing list of Nigerian nationals currently facing prosecution in India over similar charges.
