Britons held in Ghana cocaine raid
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Britons held in Ghana cocaine raid
Britons held in Ghana cocaine raid
Thu 8 January, 2004 17:21
By Kwaku Sakyi-Addo
ACCRA (Reuters) - Drug enforcement officers in Ghana have seized a tonne of cocaine and arrested seven men, including four Britons, in the biggest haul of the drug in one operation in West Africa, officials say.
A German and two Ghanaians -- aged between 43 and 70 -- were also arrested in the raid which netted drugs worth 80 million pounds, they said. The men will appear in court on Friday.
"This is the largest quantity of cocaine ever seized in one operation in West Africa," Isaac Akuoku, an official from Ghana's Narcotics Control Board, told Reuters.
British customs said the raid was the culmination of a six-month operation involving British, Antiguan, Spanish and Portuguese authorities, following the impoundment last September of 40 million pounds worth of cocaine in the Azores.
Akuoku said the drugs, believed to have originated in South America, were discovered in the house of one suspect in Tema, Ghana's main port city 18 km (11 miles) east of the capital, Accra.
Authorities found the cocaine packed into 22 parcels and hidden in a secret compartment behind a mirror.
"They're currently in police custody but they'll be in court tomorrow on a provisional charge of possessing narcotic drugs," Akuoku told Reuters.
Police said the men could face multiple charges including drug possession and trafficking. If found guilty, the suspects could face at least 10 years' imprisonment on each count.
Akuoku said the authorities suspected the drugs had been picked up by fishing trawlers on the high seas before being packaged at a warehouse in Tema for export to Europe.
"A sophisticated international gang has been dismantled and a large shipment of cocaine has been prevented from causing crime on our streets," British Customs Minister John Healey said in an earlier statement.
Thu 8 January, 2004 17:21
By Kwaku Sakyi-Addo
ACCRA (Reuters) - Drug enforcement officers in Ghana have seized a tonne of cocaine and arrested seven men, including four Britons, in the biggest haul of the drug in one operation in West Africa, officials say.
A German and two Ghanaians -- aged between 43 and 70 -- were also arrested in the raid which netted drugs worth 80 million pounds, they said. The men will appear in court on Friday.
"This is the largest quantity of cocaine ever seized in one operation in West Africa," Isaac Akuoku, an official from Ghana's Narcotics Control Board, told Reuters.
British customs said the raid was the culmination of a six-month operation involving British, Antiguan, Spanish and Portuguese authorities, following the impoundment last September of 40 million pounds worth of cocaine in the Azores.
Akuoku said the drugs, believed to have originated in South America, were discovered in the house of one suspect in Tema, Ghana's main port city 18 km (11 miles) east of the capital, Accra.
Authorities found the cocaine packed into 22 parcels and hidden in a secret compartment behind a mirror.
"They're currently in police custody but they'll be in court tomorrow on a provisional charge of possessing narcotic drugs," Akuoku told Reuters.
Police said the men could face multiple charges including drug possession and trafficking. If found guilty, the suspects could face at least 10 years' imprisonment on each count.
Akuoku said the authorities suspected the drugs had been picked up by fishing trawlers on the high seas before being packaged at a warehouse in Tema for export to Europe.
"A sophisticated international gang has been dismantled and a large shipment of cocaine has been prevented from causing crime on our streets," British Customs Minister John Healey said in an earlier statement.
