Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Ahmadu Giade, has called on airlines to take all necessary steps to prevent drug trafficking in the country, this is even as an Arik Air staff found in possession of substance suspected to be cocaine in still being interrogated by anti-narcotics officials.

This was made known during an emergency meeting of airline managers at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) with the Agency’s leadership at the weekend.

The Agency also disclosed that the United Kingdom authorities have released the Arik crew member that was allegedly found in possession of cigarettes. She is currently helping NDLEA officers in the on-going investigation.

However, the crew member reportedly found with 6kg of substance suspected to be cocaine is still being quizzed in London.

Giade warned that any airline found wanting shall be penalised. He pointed out that section 25 of the NDLEA Act outlined the responsibilities of airlines.

“It shall be the duty of every commercial carrier to take reasonable precaution to ensure that its means of transport are not used in the commission of offences under this Act. They are to comply with appropriate security measures at points of entry and exit in the Federal Republic of Nigeria and other customs control areas, to prevent unauthorized cargo in its means of transportation”.

The NDLEA commander at the Lagos airport, Mr Hamza Umar, explained that such precautions as contained in the Act include training of personnel to identify suspicious consignment or persons, promotion of integrity of their personnel and submission of cargo manifests in advance.

Others are use of tamper-resistant, individually verifiable seals on containers and reporting to the Agency at the earliest opportunity all suspicious circumstances relating to drug trafficking.

The airlines through their representatives pledged their full cooperation with security measures by authorities in preventing drug trafficking. Since the incident on Monday, security checks on airline officials have been intensified at the nation’s airports as well all entry and exit points.