Border Force officers at Heathrow Airport found around 1.5 tonnes of cannabis hidden in three separate air-freight containers that had arrived on the same flight from Ghana on 24 September 2012.[1] The containers were declared as fresh fruit and vegetables, while the cannabis was packed in tape-wrapped compressed packages inside boxes.[1][2] Border Force called it the biggest cannabis seizure at Heathrow in more than three years and put the street value at about £4.3 million.[1] The drugs were taken under armed escort to secure storage pending incineration.[1]

In Ghana, the Bureau of National Investigations picked up five Narcotics Control Board officers who had been on duty at the Aviance Cargo Village at Kotoka International Airport when the containers were cleared for the flight.[2] The officers were named as Kamaldeen Awudu, Wolanyo Fiano, Ibrahim Badoo, Marvin Amon-kotei and Ben Kusi Asante.[2] They were interrogated over how the drugs escaped the watch of the officers on duty.[3]

On 17 October, a joint NACOB-BNI operation arrested Francis Kwame Asante, 64, also known as Wofa, as the alleged mastermind behind the export.[3] His suspected accomplice, freight forwarder Frank Kofi Amoah, escaped, and his bank accounts were frozen.[3] JusticeGhana also links 7.5 kg of cocaine to the same alleged exporter.[3]