Man Swallows 44 Sachets Of Liquid Cocaine

Drugs couriers continue to adopt different ways to outwit security operatives as they ply their trade. The latest was the alleged swallowing of 44 sachets of liquid-cocaine concealed in condoms by a 54-year-old George Agyen, who was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA). The Deputy Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) in charge of Enforcement and Control, Nii Lante Blankson, who briefed the Times newspasper yesterday, said the case was the first of its kind to be uncovered by NACOB. He said the suspect was arrested at the KIA on September 27, when he arrived from Santa-Cruz, Bolivia, in transit through Sao Paulo, Brazil and Dubai. Mr. Blankson said on arrival, NACOB operatives suspected from his walking and mannerisms that he was carrying foreign materials in his stomach. Agyin was made to go through some routine checks, including a urine test, after which he was put under observation to expel the substances. According to Mr. Blankson, during interrogation, Agyen admitted the offence claiming that the drugs were given to him by two persons who he did not know, to sell in Ghana for 7,000 dollars. Mr. Blankson said the substances have been forwarded to the Ghana Standards Board for examination while the suspect has been remanded into prison to enable NACOB to conduct further investigations into the case. In a related development, a Ghanaian bandsman, Steve Kweku Opoku, 47, has been arrested in Kuala Lumpur International airport for allegedly concealing 1,700 grams of methamphetamine in a false compartment of his travelling bag. Methamphetamine is a substance used for manufacturing medicines. Mr. Blankson said Opoku had been remanded into Buloh Prisons in Malaysia awaiting trial for an offence under the Malysian Dangerous Drugs Act of 1952. He noted that if Opoku is found guilty, he would be convicted to face a mandatory death sentence by hanging. Mr. Blankson said NACOB was concerned about the trafficking of methamphetamine in recent times, showing that drug couriers were shifting gradually from the trade in cocaine, cannabis and heroine to methamphetamine. In the last two months, he said, five people had been arrested at KIA for trafficking methamphetamine, which could be abused by the couriers and drug addicts. He gave the names of those arrested recently as Hilary Ooliga Awadialor and Emmanuel Mwigbo, both 36, Afobaje Shakiru Alhassan, 30 and Chimara Oluchi Delphine, 29 all Nigerians and Mbabazi Morreen, 32, a Ugandan woman.