Nigerian arrested with N1.8bn drugs in India risks 20-year jail

Ifeoluwa

A 25-year-old Nigerian woman, Ifeoluwa Akinwunmi, risks up to 20 years jail in India after she was allegedly caught in possession of drugs worth over N1.8bn.

Akinwunmi, reportedly a hairstylist and nail artist, was arrested last Tuesday by operatives of the Anti-Narcotics Wing of the Central Crime Branch in Bengaluru.

She was apprehended at the Tarahunase village, along Rajanukunte Main Road, after arriving from Delhi with a suspicious bag.

According to The New Indian Express, which was cited in a report by PUNCH Metro on Monday, the bag contained 5.325 kilograms of MDMA crystals, a banned party drug.

The contraband was concealed among 11 new churidars — traditional Indian outfits.

“She is a courier. She had come to hand over the drugs to a group of African peddlers.

“We noticed four men on two scooters in the area, but they did not collect the parcel. Akinwunmi was arrested while standing with the bag,” a police officer involved in the operation was quoted as saying.

The suspect, who claimed she travelled to India to establish a beauty salon, is now facing charges under India’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985, and the Foreigners Act, 1946.

Section 23 of the NDPS Act stipulates severe penalties for those caught importing, exporting, or transhipping narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

According to the Indian legal code reviewed by PUNCH Metro, offenders found with a commercial quantity, such as the MDMA seized from Akinwunmi, face a minimum of 10 years and up to 20 years in prison, in addition to heavy fines.

The section reads in part, “Where the contravention involves commercial quantity, [the offender shall be punished] with rigorous imprisonment for a term which shall not be less than ten years but which may extend to twenty years and shall also be liable to a fine which shall not be less than one lakh rupees but which may extend to two lakh rupees.”