A male cabin crew member of Arik Air was on Monday night arrested at Heathrow Airport, London, by the United Kingdom Border Agency for allegedly being in possession of banned substance suspected to be cocaine.
The airline, according to its spokesman, Mr. Ola Adebanji, is presently carrying out private investigation to determine how the cabin crew member came about the banned substance.
Investigations revealed that the unnamed cabin crew member was caught with a substance weighing 2.76 kilogramme and suspected to be cocaine.
According to Adebanji, Arik Air will also cooperate fully with UK authorities and other appropriate agencies in their investigations.
He said, “The airline again reaffirms its commitment to the fight against drug and illicit substances’ trafficking and will not tolerate the use of any of its aircraft or crew for the courier of banned items and substances.
“Arik Air carries out very stringent checks on all members of staff and its travelling guests ahead of all flights.
“The airline will continue to focus its attention on measures to prevent the possibility of any future similar incidents.
“Arik Air is a responsible Nigerian company always seeking to maintain and uphold the integrity and proud reputation of the nation”.
This is not the first time a cabin crew member of the airline would be arrested at Heathrow for possessing banned substances.
The first time, which was in December 2011, a hostess identified as Ms Chinwendu Uwakaonyenma Ogbonnaya, was arrested at Heathrow Airport for smuggling four kilogrammes of cocaine into the United Kingdom. The second time was in May 2013, when another female staff of Arik – Temitayo Olubunmi Daramola, was apprehended at the airport for being in possession of 6kg of cocaine worth about N180 million.
