A Malawian has been arrested at the Kotoka International Airport by Operaitves of the Narcotics Control Board for allegeldy importing heroin into Ghana on Monday 21 Decmeber, 2015.

The accused, Grace Sauti Phiri, an Agricultural Gender Roles and Responsibility Officer (AGRESSO), has been arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court and has since been remanded at the Nsawam Prison until 8 January, 2016.

According to the prosecution, Grace claimed ownership of the bag is well as the substance, insisting that she was contracted by one Samuel Onyeba Imo, a Nigerian, for $1,300.

The Agricultural Officer further stated that she was to deliver the said bag to one Val, another Niger­ian residing in Ghana.

The plea of the accused - who has been charged with importation of narcotic drug without licence from the Ministry of Health and possessing narcotic drug without lawful authority - was not taken in a court presided over by Aboagye Tandoh.

Earlier, Paul Abagriga, lawyer for Grace Sauti Phiri, urged the court to grant bail to his client.

He said the court ought not to remand his client if the prosecution was sending the substance to the Food and Drugs Authority (DFA) for testing.

He stated that the substance could test negative.

On December 21, at about 11:30 am Grace was accosted on suspicion when she disembarked from . Ethiopian Airlines Flight Number ET921 from Malawi.

During interrogation, it was revealed that she was having a check-in luggage with log number ET 331006 which was recovered.

A search in the bag revealed quantities of white powdery sub­stance which were field-tested and proved to be heroin.