General News of Monday, 2 February 2009

Source: Ghana Business News

£10m worth of Cannabis from Ghana seized in UK

The concern of many that Ghana has become a central point of drug trafficking was confirmed again Friday January 30, 2009, when a consignment of Indian Hemp from the country was seized in a port in the UK.

The media in the UK report of the seizure of cannabis (Indian Hemp) worth £10 million at the port of Felixstowe, in Suffolk. Customs officials discovered the 3.5 tonnes of drugs hidden under the false bottom of a container in a consignment on a ship from Ghana.

There were hundreds of packets of the consignment hidden in the container, officials say.

The media quoted an official of the UK Border Agency, saying the seizure is one of the biggest hauls intercepted in the UK.

"Officers at Felixstowe examining the load were expecting personal and household effects, as the documentation described.

"However, when they opened the container a very powerful smell indicating large quantities of cannabis hit them," he said.

The official told the media that no arrests have been made but inquiries are continuing.