Belgian living in Ghana detained in Suriname

...for attempted drug smuggling

PARAMARIBO, Suriname - Customs officials detained a 44-year-old Belgian man about to board a plane to Amsterdam when they found 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) of cocaine in his suitcase, police said Friday.

A police statement did not identify the suspect by name but said he had been living in the West African nation of Ghana for the past nine years and had just ended a vacation in Suriname, a former Dutch colony in South America.

The drugs were found during a random search on Thursday, the police said.

The United Nations Drug Control Agency estimates 22 tons of cocaine a year is smuggled to Europe through Suriname.