A 25-year-old Nigerian woman named Ifeoluwa Akinwunmi was recently arrested in India for carrying illegal drugs worth more than N1.8 billion. The Anti-Narcotics Wing of the Central Crime Branch caught her in Bengaluru, where she was found with 5.325 kilograms of MDMA crystals.

Akinwunmi works as a hairstylist and nail artist and said she had traveled to India to open a beauty salon. However, police arrested her on June 10 after receiving a tip-off. She was stopped while carrying a suspicious bag that held the drugs and some traditional Indian clothes called churidars.

According to the police, Akinwunmi was acting as a courier, delivering the drugs to a group of African drug dealers. Four men nearby did not collect the package, and she was arrested holding the bag.

During questioning, she said she did not know what was inside the bag. She claimed a friend in Delhi had asked her to give the bag to a man wearing a black hat. She also said she planned to start a salon business in Bengaluru and identified herself as the daughter of a Nigerian civil servant but did not give more personal details.

She entered India on a business visa in October 2021 and later switched to a student visa to study at a university in Telangana. However, she never enrolled and has been staying in India illegally since her visa expired in 2022.

Police are also investigating her boyfriend in Delhi, who is currently missing. Akinwunmi will be kept in police custody for further questioning. This is the first case registered against her in Bengaluru, and officers are checking if she is linked to any other cases in the country.

She was handed over to the local police station as the investigation continues.