Arik Air hostess arrested for smuggling cocaine

An air hostess for Arik Air, Ms Chinwendu Uwakaonyenma Ogbonnaya, was arrested at Heathrow Airport on Sunday over an allegation of smuggling four kilogram's of cocaine into the United Kingdom.

The airline promptly promised to support the British police and the magistrates in the matter even as it regrets that the incident is the first involving its crew.

A statement by the British High Commission in Abuja Tuesday said the drug was discovered in an item of luggage conveyed by 30-year-old Ogbonnaya.

"She had arrived into Heathrow Terminal 4 having travelled on an Arik Air flight from Lagos in Nigeria," the statement said, adding that she was charged with attempting to import a class A substance, and appeared before Uxbridge Magistrate court Tuesday.

The British High Commission quoted the Director of UK Border Agency operations at Heathrow, Marc Owen, as saying: "UK Border Agency officers are on constant alert, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to keep class A drugs and other banned substances out of the UK."

According to him, the agency is determined to prevent this terrible trade which can have "such a destructive impact on the lives of so many".

This Day

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