Baako asks: Was cocaine sent to Ms. Ametefe during the flight?

Kweku Baako Jnr., Editor-in-Chief of the New Crusading Guide has challenged the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to release a detailed account of their supposedly collaborative efforts with its British counterpart regarding the arrest of Ms. Neyele Ametefe, the woman at the center of the recent cocaine bust.

Kweku Baako questioned NACOB for failing to address some pertinent issues leading up to the arrest of the woman in its press statement on the matter.

Nayele Ametefe was arrested at Heathrow Airport in London on November 10, 2014 with cocaine weighing 12.5kgs, worth millions of dollars.

In a statement to the media, NACOB stated that the arrest was effected through a collaborative effort with its British connections who tracked her moves.

“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 handbag, she had further two (2) kilos (blocks)."

The woman was also reported to be carrying an Austrian passport with number P4187659 and also had with her an ordinary Ghanaian passport, number G0364497 on her.

But according to reports by the seasoned journalist, Kweku Baako, the busted "cocaine" lady was apparently helped by some unknown persons to get the cocaine on flight.

Kweku Baako disclosed on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo", that Ms. Nayele Ametefe did not carry the bags by herself to the plane.

"Some unidentified people managed to send her the bags while on the plane and it was on flight that she removed portions of the drug into her handbag," Mr. Baako added.

He, therefore, wonders why the NACOB failed to include in its report the third party who helped the lady to get a pass through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) before being arrested at Heathrow Airport.

“The girl didn’t send the bags by herself to the plane. She was on the plane and somebody sent it to her...She was pressing it (cocaine) into the thing (suitcase) but it couldn’t get into the bag.

"It was too huge that she had to be helped. So, she removed the 2 kilos of cocaine and put it inside her handbag on the plane, and left the 10 [kilos] in her compartment. This is what happened. Now, who sent the thing (cocaine) to her on the flight?”

“They must have seen who brought it. Has the person been arrested?” he questioned.

To him, if indeed the arrest was made through a collaborative effort, then it means the NACOB should know when and how the lady got on the flight to the United Kingdom (UK).

“If it had not reached the end point, then it was not right [prudent] to have arrested her in Heathrow. She might as well have been arrested in Accra because you (NACOB) had already concluded (whatever investigations you were carrying out),” he added.