One of the two Arik Air crew members arrested on Monday at Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom for drug trafficking has been released by the UK authorities.
The second suspect is still being held and is currently undergoing investigations from the authorities there.
This is also as the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, yesterday challenged airline operators in the country to take all necessary steps to prevent drug trafficking among their crew members.
The released suspect, Delita Abibimgbi, was caught with 60 packets of cigarettes while Temitayo Olubunmi Daramola who was still being held was found to be in possession of six kilogram of cocaine.
Arik Air spokesman, Mr. Ola Adebanji, who confirmed Abibimgbi’s release while speaking with Saturday Mirror on phone, added that the second suspect, Daramola was still being held, but assured that the airline would cooperate fully with appropriate authorities in their investigation on the issue.
The released suspect, according to an online statement signed by the Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Mr. Mitchel Ofoyeju, was already helping the agency with further investigation into the drug case.
At an emergency meeting held yesterday at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos at the instance of the Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Ahmadu Giade, the agency read the riot act to the airlines.
Giade warned that any airline found wanting or culpable in any act that could put mud in the country’s image through drug trafficking would be dealt with according to the law of the land.
He pointed out that section 25 of the NDLEA Act outlined the responsibilities of airlines.
His words: “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.
“They are 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.”
Also, the NDLEA Commander, Lagos Airport, Mr. Hamza Umar explained that such precautions as contained in the Act include training of personnel to identify suspicious consignment or persons, promotion of integrity of their personnel and submission of cargo manifests in advance.
Others, he said, are 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.
The airlines, through their representatives, pledged their full cooperation with security agencies on measures being taken by authorities to prevent drug trafficking.
However, since the incident on Monday, security checks on airline officials have been intensified at the nation’s airports as well all entry and exit points.
Two Arik Airlines cabin crew members were on Monday at Heathrow Airport, London arrested on suspicion of carrying illicit drugs to London. The aircraft had taken off from MMIA for London only for the security officers at Heathrow to discover the illicit drugs with the two crew members.
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