Airline cabin crew member charged with smuggling cocaine

An airline cabin crew member has been charged after cocaine with an estimated street value of £98,000 was seized at Gatwick Airport, HM Revenue and Customs said today.

Officers from the UK Border Agency (UKBA) discovered the drugs, weighing about two kilos, in baggage that had arrived on a Ghana International Airways flight from Accra.

Kwaku Asante Ayirebi, a 30-year-old Ghanaian national, has been charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into the UK.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) said he will appear at Mid Sussex Magistrates' Court later today.

Bob Gaiger, HMRC Gatwick spokesman, said: "Crew members are subject to the same customs checks as any other person when entering the UK.

"HMRC together with UKBA plays a vital role in the fight to prevent illegal drugs from entering the UK and in protecting our communities from the violence and corruption that always accompany this hideous trade."