Customs officers impounded 53 boxes at the Aviance Cargo repackaging section of Kotoka International Airport in Accra on the evening of Thursday 23 October 2008.[1] The boxes purported to be foodstuff such as plantain and kenkey and were bound for the United Kingdom.[1] A search found 50 boxes weighing 664 kg altogether and holding 240 parcels; they broke down into 192 slabs of compressed dried leaves, 40 plastic bowls and 8 cylindrical containers of a honey-like substance.[1] The substances tested positive for cannabis and negative for cocaine on examination by the Narcotics Control Board unit at Aviance.[1]
A Narcotics Control Board official said the honey-like substance was finely processed cannabis mixed with oil, usable as a bread spread, containing no honey at all.[1] A vigilant Customs, Excise and Preventive Service officer had grown suspicious of the vehicle that brought the undocumented boxes straight onto the airfield, and the exporter was absent when they were seized.[1] The driver sped off as officers scrutinised the goods, and agent Kennedy Biney was to be invited to help with investigations, though the exporter’s identity and the vehicle’s registration remained unknown.[1] Customs official Nana Egyin Boadu said the lack of scanners hampered the outfit, while Aviance export head Dorothy Arhin said the cargo had no export permit and the airline booked to carry it was not disclosed.[1]
