KEY POINTS
- Delhi railway police arrested two Nigerian women, Chikanso James and Happiness Okoye, after recovering 2.28kg of cocaine.
- The seizure is valued at about Rs20 crore, roughly N380 million, with officers reportedly finding 11 packets on James.
- Investigators link the drugs to a Mumbai-to-Delhi-NCR network; James is in police custody and Okoye in judicial custody.
Railway police in Delhi, India, have detained two Nigerian women after officers allegedly recovered 2.28 kilograms of cocaine worth about Rs20 crore, or roughly N380 million.
According to The New Indian Express, officers arrested 43-year-old Chikanso James and 41-year-old Happiness Okoye during a patrol on Platform One of the Hazrat Nizamuddin Railway Station, a major transit hub in the Indian capital.
How the Nigerian women cocaine arrests unfolded
Police said the two women drew suspicion through their conduct, and that prompted officers to search them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. During the operation, officers reportedly pulled 11 packets of suspected cocaine from James. Subsequently, members of the crime team and forensic specialists examined the substance, and they confirmed that it was cocaine.
The recovered quantity, about 2.28 kilograms, carries an estimated value of Rs20 crore, which converts to roughly N380 million. For context, Rs20 crore equals 200 million rupees, and the naira estimate shifts with the exchange rate applied. Still, the report framed that figure as an estimate, since final valuations often move once analysts weigh purity and market conditions. Moreover, the NDPS Act, India’s main anti-narcotics law, generally carries stiff penalties for possession and trafficking, so the confirmed result raises the stakes for both suspects.
Wider trafficking network probed
Investigators alleged that the drugs tie to an interstate trafficking operation that runs between Mumbai and the Delhi-NCR region. According to police, James told them that she had picked up the consignment from Vikaspuri. Furthermore, authorities said they now work to identify other members of the alleged network and to trace its financial and supply channels. So far, police have not publicly named any other suspects, and the search for the backers continues.
Meanwhile, the two suspects face different terms of detention. Officers remanded James in police custody, which typically allows direct interrogation, while a court placed Okoye in judicial custody, where suspects usually stay in prison under a magistrate’s authority. Therefore, both women remain locked up as the case proceeds, and prosecutors will need to present evidence that ties the pair to the alleged network.