Drug courier nabbed at Kotoka Airport

Page 3: Daily Graphic, June 2, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A 39-year-old man who was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport at the weekend on suspicion of being a drug courier expelled 100 pellets of cocaine weighing 1.6 kilogrammes after he had initially objected to sweat and urine tests.
Aly Diarra, who is a Nigerian by birth but was travelling on a Malian passport, was transiting through Ghana to Abidjan.
He was on board an Emirates flight EK787 on which he had travelled from Sao Paolo, Brazil, through Dubai en route to Abidjan. The flight was delayed for several hours because officials initially declined handing Diarra over to officials of National Security and the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).
When reason prevailed and a sweat test was conducted on the itemisers, it proved positive for cocaine, which was later confirmed by the urine test and an X-ray examination.
After his arrest, Diarra was said to have commented that it was God’s desire that he be arrested in Ghana, since, according to him, officials at the Dubai Airport had also conducted searches on him but claimed to have found nothing.
He was interrogated by officials of NACOB after he had expelled the 100 pellets, each weighing 16 grammes.
He admitted going to Sao Paolo in 2008 to procure one kilogramme of cocaine, which he sold for $20,000 in Abidjan.
He said the cost of cocaine had gone up due to the scarcity of the commodity, hence the motivation to accept a sponsorship to Sao Paolo and back for a fee of $4,000.
The Executive Secretary of NACOB, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Robert Ayalingo, told the Daily Graphic that Diarra’s arrest followed a collaboration between NACOB and its international partners.
He said when the information was passed on to NACOB, it decided to seek the support of the National Security Secretariat, since the suspect was a transit passenger.
He said after consultations, it was decided that the suspect be arrested.