Five Ghanaians arrested in UAE for drug trafficking
Five Ghanaians have been busted in the United Arab Emirates(UAE) for trafficking marijuana.
This has prompted Ghana’s consulate in Dubai to advise Ghanian travellers to be vigilant.
“It may interest you to know that from January to March 2021, five people have been arrested at the Dubai airport in connection with this matter,” a statement from the consulate said.
Most of the suspects had no clue they were carrying drugs.
“The sad part is that all the parcels containing the weed were given to them by the agent in Ghana who acquired the UAE visas for them …”
According to the statement, one person has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for carrying drugs to the UAE.
The consulate urged Ghanaians travelling to the UAE to never accept parcels meant for others without first ascertaining the contents of the parcel.
Several Ghanaians have been arrested in the past in different countries for drug trafficking.
In 2020, seven Ghanaian were arrested at Abule-Egba, Lagos State, for allegedly attempting to smuggle illicit substance into the country.
Three Ghanaian international passports and some capsules suspected to be illicit drugs were recovered from them.
Perhaps the most famous of such cases in the recent past was the arrest of Ruby Adu-Gyamfi, aka Nayele Ametefe.
Nayele was arrested on November 10, 2014, at the Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom by officers of the UK Border Force with 12.5 kg of cocaine worth $5 million.
She was sentenced to eight-and-half years’ imprisonment in 2015 after she pleaded guilty to the charges and was subsequently convicted on her own plea.
She was released on parole in 2018 after she had reportedly exhibited good behaviour in prison.