The staff of Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) who was implicated early this year in a cocaine smuggling incident at Kotoka International Airport (KIA), have been reinstated.
This incident involved the smuggling of 8.5 kilograms of cocaine through KIA aboard Royal Air Maroc on March 23, 2024, allegedly facilitated by a GACL staff member and a female staff of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC).
Eric Nartey Yeboah, also known as “Chairman Dollar,” a staff of GACL was seen in CCTV footage engaging some of the Aviation Security Personnel, thus distracting them from paying attention to Proeger Delgey Bianca’s presence and a NACOC official.
Eric Nartey Yeboah, who is the Greater Accra Regional Second Vice Chairman of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), was interdicted together with some other staff implicated in the cocaine smuggling incident, was not officially on duty during the night of the smuggling incident.
The Herald’s investigations established how the smuggler of the 8.5 kilograms of cocainewas aided by the female staff of NACOC in outmanoeuvring airport security officials and their scanners.
NACOC, is the Ghanaianagency under the Ministry of Interior responsible for dealing with the incidence of illicit drug trafficking in the country.
It is not clear, if the NACOC lady who was seen carrying the luggage of the smuggler without the necessary security checks following her arrival at KIA onboard an SUV has also been cleared.
The NACOC lady was arrested and locked up for helping in the smuggling of the cocaine which was busted at the Brussels Airport, Belgium. NACOC, has since March remained tight-lipped on the matter.
Following the arrest of the illegal drugs and Proeger Delgey Bianca at Brussels Airport in Belgium, GACL interdicted the staff members, including Eric Nartey Yeboah, who were implicated in the incident.
The Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, confirmed their return to work during an update on the matter before the Government Assurances Committee sitting in Parliament in Accra, yesterday, Thursday October 10, 2024.
Mr Asiamah, told the committee “No they are not on interdiction. They have been cleared. Maybe per our code of conduct, per our standards maybe they were not culpable…We did so the report came, and we said that they were not culpable and the fact that they were not culpable does not mean that they slept on their job.”
He, however, failed to directly respond if any staffer at the Kotoka International Airport was responsible for the smuggling of the drugs.
The GACL in April this year, interdicted all staff implicated in the cocaine smuggling incident at the KIA.
The Herald reported that the scandal emerged, following the arrest of a significant quantity of illegal drugs at Brussels Airport in Belgium, with reports indicating that the cocaine was smuggled through KIA aboard the Moroccan national carrier, Royal Air Maroc, facilitated by a GACL staff member on March 23, 2024.
Proeger Delgey Bianca, a female, who is Dutch national, was apprehended at Brussels Airport with eight and a half (8.5) kilograms of suspected cocaine, allegedly transported through KIA on the mentioned date.
A statement from GACL, dated April 10, confirmed the commencement of investigations and the interdiction of the staff involved in the incident.
The management of GACL reiterated its warning to staff about assisting passengers at the airport, “failing which punitive measures not limited to but including summary dismissals and prosecutions by the State will be effected in line with existing protocols.”
Management wishes to assure the general public of its commitment and determination, in collaboration with stakeholders to ensure that operations at the airport are safe and secure.
