By Buba Gagigo
The Gambia Drug Law Enforcement Agency (DLEAG) has said that their preliminary investigation into the cocaine seizures at Brussels Airport has shown that the three bags, all wrapped in transparent plastic, were not accompanied by any passengers and none of them had the security tag of Brussels Airlines from Banjul.
The agency said in a press release that the drugs, which were all wrapped in plastic, did not have the security tag of the Brussels Airlines flight from Banjul.
“Contact was established with Belgian investigators to share possible leads and exchange information. Preliminary findings revealed that the three bags, all wrapped in transparent plastic, were unaccompanied and none of them had the security tag of Brussels Airlines from Banjul. While the seizure is being associated with the 17th July 2023 Brussels Airlines flight from Banjul, the three check-in bag tags bear different dates specifically: the 15th, the 17th and the 25th April 2023. Curiously, this is almost three months before the announcement of the July 17th, 2023, seized drugs,” DLEAG said.
The Drug Law Enforcement Agency (DLEAG) confirmed that there were no flights to or from Banjul on April 15 and 25, 2023, after verifying with Brussels Airlines.
“Furthermore, the route on the bag tags was Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) – Brussels (BRU) – Banjul (BJL), suggesting that the bags were inbound and not outbound as contained in the allegations. Based on available information, the circumstances surrounding the origin of these bags remain blurry. However, a full and thorough investigation has been launched to come to the bottom of this case,” they explained.
Three bags of cocaine allegedly from the Gambia were reportedly seized on Tuesday 18th July 2023 at the Brussels Airport. Each of the seized bags was alleged to contain forty (40) blocks of cocaine.