afrol News, 12 July - Ghanaian narcotic police have arrested two London students for attempting to smuggle cocaine worth £300,000 into the West African country, HM Revenue and Customs said.

The 16-year-old suspects, who were arrested at the Accra airport since 2nd July this year, aged 16.

The teenagers' arrest has been the fruit of Operation Westbridge - a joint UK-Ghana project to tackle illegal smuggling of drugs.

Since their arrest, the suspects have been under the custody of criminal investigators in Ghana.

"The use of such young girls as couriers vividly illustrates the ruthlessness of the criminal drug gangs involved in this traffic," said Tony Walker, the head of Operation Westbridge.

"The dedication of UK and Ghanaian drug detection officers has prevented deadly Class A drugs from entering the UK."

A spokeswoman from the Foreign Office said they have been in touch with the girls and that their next of kins have been informed about the development.

However, for legal reasons the British authorities would not provide the identities of the minors.

It is believed that the young girls have been used as pawns by drug lords to smuggle the illegal substances from Ghana to London on a British Airways flight.

"The use of such young girls as couriers vividly illustrates the ruthlessness of the criminal drug gangs involved in this traffic," a Customs spokesman concurred.

The parents of the girls have been flown over to Ghana to help deal with the situation.

In recent times, West Afvrica has become a new drug trafficking point for traffickers. Most of the drugs are said to have originated from Colombia through small planes to the region for distribution to Europe where drug prices have soared.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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