Brits arrested forward of flight ‘with 366lbs cocaine in suitcases’

Two British citizens have been arrested in Ghana, accused of trying to smuggle 366lbs (166kg) worth of cocaine on a flight to London.

The suspects were scheduled to board a British Airways flight from Kotoka International Airport in Accra, travelling to Gatwick Airport, before their ‘luggage raised suspicion’.

Ghana’s Narcotic Control Commission (NACOC) claimed the pair had hidden the cocaine, worth an estimated £5mn, between six suitcases destined for London.

The men allegedly divided the drugs into 72 parcels for transit, according to state-owned outlet The Daily Graphic.

‘The two have accordingly been arrested, assisting investigations,’ a statement read, noting the help of the UK’s National Crime Agency in carrying out the sting.

File photo. Two men were arrested in Ghana, accused of trying to smuggle cocaine into Britain

UK authorities have worked closely with drugs control officials in Ghana to clamp down on the rising tide of smuggling in the past.

In 2022, four members of a Ghanaian smuggling ring were jailed for more than 28 years after trying to import almost £3mn worth of cocaine into Britain, following a National Crime Agency investigation.

Julius Tetteh Puplampu was intercepted by NCA officers at Heathrow Airport in August 2021, having flown in from Accra with six kilos of cocaine in his suitcase.

He was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to drug importation offences, as reported by the Evening Standard.

Puplampu had been in regular contact with Eric Appaih, also from Ghana, who was accused of trying to import 15kg of cocaine stashed in food boxes.

Appaih was sentenced to six years in prison in June last year.

Two others associated with the ring were also arrested that year and handed down sentences of nine and six years for their involvement in the trade. 

In 2021, the NCA reported a smuggler who had used coconuts to hide almost 140kg herbal cannabis sent from Ghana had been jailed. 

Ghana has struggled to manage the emergence of dangerous drug trafficking groups, often serving as a relay for opiates coming from Afghanistan.

The Organised Crime Index assessed Ghana was ‘among the most important African transit countries for cocaine trafficked globally and across Africa’. 

The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime warned how expanding criminal markets were shaping society ‘profoundly’, ‘with cocaine outpacing human smuggling as the dominant market across the region between 2021 and 2023’.

A general view of Accra, the capital city of Ghana, in 2018 

Ghana sought a radical solution by seeking alternatives to lengthy prison spells for drug possession in the country in 2020.

This created substantial policy changes aimed at reducing harm for drug users and undercutting illegal markets domestically.

However, those smuggling drugs out of Ghana appear to have thrived in recent years.

In 2022, Ghana reported a record-breaking 59.9kg worth of drugs found, as reported by the BBC.

Notably, the increase in recorded seizures correlates with increased collaboration efforts designed to find and prevent such movements.

MailOnline contacted the NCA for comment.

MailOnline contacted British Airways for comment.