BNI releases Citi FM boss Sammens

The Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) has released the Chief Executive Officer of Accra-based Citi FM, Samuel Attah-Mensah.

The media practitioner was picked up by operatives of the state investigative outfit Monday afternoon in connection with a publication on their website about the arrest of a Ghanaian woman carrying 12kg of cocaine at the Heathrow Airport.

Lawyers of the Vice President of the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) were denied access to their client at the BNI headquarters in Accra. Attah-Mensah, according to legal practitioner Egbert Faibaille, was whisked away to an unknown location.

After hours of being held behind bars, the BNI released the boss of the 10-year-old radio station in the evening.

The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) in a statement said the woman who was busted in the UK with cocaine weighing 12 kg travelled on an Austrian passport and not with a Ghanaian diplomatic passport as initially reported by the online outfit.

In a statement to the media, NACOB stated: “One Ms. Nayele Ametefe was arrested on the 10th of November, 2014 through the collaborative effort of Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and its British partners.

“On the 9th November, 2014, one Ms. Nayele Ametefeh boarded British Airways flight number BA 078 from Accra to London. She was arrested at Heathrow International Airport. She had flown on a first class ticket using travel miles on British Airways point. The ticket had been purchased on 8th October, 2014 and had been altered three times.”

It added: “In her possession she had two (2) suitcases. Only one (1) of the suitcases was checked in (Baggage tag number BA 059801) and nothing of interest was found. In the other suitcase which was believed to be hand carried onto the plane, 10kgs of cocaine was found among her clothing. The cocaine were wrapped in one kilo blocks. In her hand bag, she had further two (2) kilos (blocks).

“It is worthy to note that Ms. Nayele Ametefe travelled on Austrian passport number P4187659 and not on Ghanaian Diplomatic passport as being speculated. She also had in her possession an ordinary Ghanaian passport number G0364497 issued on 3rd August, 2012. Investigations are still ongoing.”