Officials of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) visited the Ikeja office of Arik Air on Tuesday, August 25 following the arrest of one of its crew member in London for allegedly peddling cocaine, The Punch reports.
The suspect, Chika Egwu Udensi, was arrested on Monday, August 24, by the UK border force while in possession of 20 kilogrammes of cocaine in London. He was arrested shortly after the airline which departed from the Murtala Muhammed international airport landed at the London Heathrow airport.
Arik spokesman, Adebanji Ola confirmed the visit of the NDLEA operatives adding that they searched the Range Rover of Udensi which was parked in their premises. The airline estimated that the cocaine found with the suspect would cost £350,000 which is N105 million.
The statement read: A member of Arik Air cabin crew was on Monday night arrested at the Heathrow Airport, London, by the UK Border Force in connection with alleged possession of item suspected to be a banned substance.
“The airline is presently carrying out its private investigation to determine how the cabin crew member came about the suspected banned substance.
Arik Air will also be cooperating fully with the UK authorities and other appropriate agencies in their investigations.
According to The Punch, Chris Ndulue, managing director of the airline and Captain Ado Sanusi, the director of flight operation, were on board the same flight. The two were said to be attending a ‘special meeting’ which detail was unknown.
Mr. Ahmadu Giade, the chairman of the anti-narcotic agency ordered that a full scale investigation be carried out. In a statement, he said: “The agency will carry out full scale investigation into this case to ascertain those behind the criminal act. We shall work closely with our international collaborators on the matter. Arik Airline will be sanctioned if found wanting.
“The agency shall invoke section 25 of the NDLEA Act against the airline, which states that it shall be the duty of every commercial carrier to take reasonable precaution to ensure that its means of transport are not used in the commission of offences under this Act.
“Every commercial carrier is expected to comply with appropriate security measures at points of entry and exit in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other customs control areas, to prevent unauthorised cargo in its means of transportation.
“The law refers to the precautionary measures to include training of personnel, promotion of integrity of their personnel, submission of cargo manifests in advance, use of tamper-resistant, individually verifiable seals on containers and reporting to the agency at the earliest opportunity all suspicious circumstances relating to drug trafficking.
“Nigeria has a cordial working relationship with the United Kingdom in drug control. This has resulted to a drastic reduction in the number of arrests made in the United Kingdom from flights originating from Nigeria over the years.”
In a related development, the NDLEA revealed that it seized 450kg of illegal drugs from drug barons at the Murtala Muhammed Airport in the space of six months.
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