Ghanaians arrested in Iran for drugs

... Likely To Be Executed
Accra, Nov. 15, GNA/GHP - Three Ghanaians have been arrested in Iran for illegally carrying heroin weighing 1.762 kilograms in the country, the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) said on Thursday.

A statement signed by Mr. Francis Opoku Amoah, Public Relations Office of NACOB, identified them as Eric Yeboah with passport number H1074437, David Yao Atorku with passport number H1540095 and Evans Seidu with passport number H1923078.

"The Narcotics Control Board has information from the Iranian Embassy that the three persons are now in police custody pending their trial," it said.

"NACOB therefore used this opportunity to inform their relatives."

Drug trafficking, murder, rape, adultery, armed robbery and apostasy are all punishable by death under Iran's sharia law, imposed after the 1979 revolution.

Iranian authorities say most executions are carried out against drug offenders.

At least 80 people have been hanged since mid-July, according to a count based on Iranian media reports.

Amnesty International says Iran has one of the highest rates of execution in the world, and has reported that the number doubled to at least 177 last year.