A United States national has been arrested following a drug interdiction operation at the V.C. Bird International Airport over the weekend.
Police say 34-year-old Fady Aziz Saloum of the United States was taken into custody on Saturday, March 7, after officers from the Narcotics Department, working alongside the K-9 Unit and the Customs Enforcement Unit, carried out a joint operation at the airport around 4:30 p.m.
During the exercise, a K-9 detection dog alerted officers to a black suitcase belonging to the suspect, who had arrived in Antigua aboard United Airlines Flight 2020 from Pennsylvania.
A subsequent search of the luggage reportedly uncovered 23 pre-wrapped cannabis joints and a blue zip-lock bag containing a quantity of vegetable material resembling cannabis.
The items were seized and the suspect was escorted to Police Headquarters as investigations continued.
Authorities later confirmed that the substances weighed 56 grams, with an estimated street value of EC$560.
The Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda says it continues to strengthen drug interdiction measures at the country’s ports of entry and is reminding travelers that the importation and possession of controlled drugs remain serious offences under the laws of Antigua and Barbuda.
