By Kemo Kanyi
Officers from the Drug Law Enforcement Agency of The Gambia stationed at the Banjul International Airport have arrested two foreign nationals with 234 pellets of suspected cocaine in diverse areas.
According to the DLEAG, one of the suspects arrested at the airport is a female Portuguese National, while the other one arrested at Baraka Estate in Bakoteh is a dual-citizenship of Portuguese Bissau Guinean.
“51 years old Ramatu Baldeh, the female Portuguese National was arrested on the 2nd of September 2024 around 01:00 hours GMT onwards with thirty-four (34) pellets of cocaine at BIA by DLEAG’s Airport Command alongside Aviation Security (AVSEC) personnel,” DLEAG unveiled in a statement on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.
DLEAG further said that the drugs were concealed in her luggage, and the suspect was traveling through the Banjul International Airport to Europe.
“The suspect at the time of the arrest was scheduled to travel to Lisbon, Portugal via Casablanca with Royal Air Maroc,” it said.
The nation’s prohibited drug control agency also explained the arrest of a male suspect, a Portuguese Bissau Guinean National, at an estate in Bakoteh.
“Further investigations into the matter led to the arrest of Abdoulai Dembo at Baraka Estate in Bakoteh on the same day around 14:39 hours GMT onwards with two hundred (200) pellets of cocaine concealed in a black colored school bag,” DLEAG disclosed in a statement.
Section 43 (1) prohibits a person from engaging in drug trafficking and if convicted under this section, the penalty is one million dalasis fine and in addition a prison term of not less than ten years.
