A Nigerian woman, Doris Etumudon, has been arrested at a railway station in India with narcotics estimated to be worth over N6bn (about $4m).
Etumudon was arrested on Friday at the Panvel Railway Station, Maharashtra, while allegedly travelling with an infant identified as Miracle.
According to a report by an Indian online news platform, Deccan Herald, on Saturday, the joint operation was conducted by the Railway Protection Force, of Central Railway, Panvel; the Narcotics Control Bureau, Bengaluru; and the Crime Intelligence Branch, Kurla, Mumbai.
The suspect was reportedly onboard Train No. 12618 Hazrat Nizamuddin–Ernakulam Mangala Express, and was intercepted following intelligence received by the NCB Bengaluru.
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,” CR officials stated.
While the police were reportedly searching the area, officers reportedly located a Nigerian woman in Coach A-2, Seat No. 27, accompanied by a child and a multicoloured travel bag.
The report disclosed that after undergoing interrogation, she identified herself as Doris from Nigeria and claimed the child with her, whom she identified as Miracle, was hers.
The RPF noted that “upon interrogation in the presence of independent witnesses, the woman confessed to carrying narcotic substances.”
She was subsequently taken to the RPF post at Panvel for a thorough search.
The report noted that inside the multicoloured travel bag, officers discovered two rectangular black packages wrapped in rubber material and labelled VINTAGE.
According to the police, drug test kits later confirmed the contents to be cocaine weighing 2.002 kg.
Further inspection reportedly revealed a children’s red-and-blue Mickey Mouse-themed bag hidden inside the main bag.
The police disclosed that the smaller bag contained two paper packages — one labelled Kellogg’s Corn Flakes and the other “Bongchi Perfect Roll.
These were reportedly found to contain white crystalline substances, later identified as methamphetamine, weighing 1.488 kg.
The seized narcotics, with a combined estimated market value of approximately Rs 36 crore, were taken into custody, CR authorities confirmed.
Etumudon becomes the second Nigerian woman to be arrested in India in less than two months for trafficking commercial quantities of narcotics.
She joins several other Nigerians currently facing prosecution in the country for similar offences.
