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A specially trained sniffer dog from the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) has exposed a 32-year-old Nigerian trader who had concealed substances believed to be narcotic drugs in his bag at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra. The huge black Labrador that was sniffing luggage at the arrival hall of the KIA last Wednesday knelt in front of the suspect, identified as Justice Okechuku, and started barking. Consequently, Okechuku was arrested and upon search, he was found to have concealed 4.4 kilogrammes of the substance, with a street value of $300,000, in his luggage. According to the Deputy Executive Secretary of the NACOB, Mr Richard Nii Lantey Blankson, the suspect had arrived on board a Kenyan Airline flight from Dar El Salaam, Tanzania at about 1:00 p.m. last Wednesday. NACOB officials suspected him of carrying some drugs due to his demeanor, so they mounted surveillance on him. Drug traffickers Mr Blankson said usually those drug traffickers had a way of concealing the drugs in their travelling bags in such a way that they were not easily detectable. To detect such concealment, he said, officials had to cut and destroy whole bags of such suspects. The deputy executive secretary said to avoid waste of unnecessary time, specially trained sniffer dogs were usually brought in to assist. In the case of the suspect, Mr Blankson said as soon as the luggage started rolling out at the arrival hall and the travellers started identifying them, one of the dogs moved to where the suspect was standing with one luggage while waiting to pick another bag on the conveyor belt and started barking at him. Special dogs academy The NACOB and the Ghana Armed Forces have jointly established a special dogs academy to train Labradors and their handlers both locally and internationally to assist in the effort to arrest drug dealers and peddlers. He said the suspect, upon interrogation, claimed he was sent by another Nigerian who lived in Tanzania to deliver a small parcel of drugs to his business partner in Accra for a fee. Suspect arrested The suspect explained further that it was the said Nigerian who bought the airline ticket and gave him some money for the trip. The suspect claimed that his agent in Tanzania explained to him that somebody would meet him at the airport on his arrival in Ghana. However, Okechuku failed to provide the name of his Nigerian accomplice in Tanzania or the one to receive him on arrival in Ghana. The suspect has been placed in custody, while investigations are ongoing after which he would be put before the law court. Writers email: [email protected]