Ghana Man Arrested in Dulles Heroin Pipeline Investigation

A Ghana airport security supervisor was indicted Nov. 23 by a federal grand jury for allegedly assisting members of an international heroin trafficking ring to smuggle the drug into the United States through Dulles International Airport.


Edmund Darkwah, also known as “Henry,” 37, a resident of Ghana, was charged with conspiracy to import heroin and two counts of heroin distribution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


If convicted, Darkwah faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison for each count.


Authorities said Darkwah conspired with Edward Macauley, aka “Cudjoe Opoku,” a resident of Ghana and the alleged leader of a Ghana-based heroin trafficking organization that recruits couriers to smuggle heroin into the United States through Dulles International Airport.


The organization pays couriers up to $15,000 to transport the heroin, either in carry-on luggage or stitched into a wig of artificial hair.


Darkwah is a supervisor with the Ghana Aviation Security Section (AVSEC) and was employed at the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. The indictment alleges the Macauley organization paid Darkwah $2,000 to ensure safe passage through the airport for its couriers.


Eleven people to date have been charged in the ongoing investigation. Four of those charged and taken into custody in Ghana Macauley, Frank Ehiobe, Fred Oppong Brobbey, and Matilda Antwi were extradited to the United States and made an initial appearance in federal court on Nov. 15, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.


The Drug Enforcement Agency announced they've worked with other federal agencies to arrest a Ghana man who they say has been instrumental in that drug pipeline.


Edmund Darkwah, an airport security supervisor at the Kokota International Airport in Ghana, was taken into custody by law enforcement in Ghana for the investigation.


U.S. investigators say Darkwah took $2,000 bribes to let heroin-carrying couriers slip through security at his Ghanan airport. The DEA says the couriers received $15,000 to smuggle quantities of heroin into the United States, often hidden in carry-on luggage or in wigs.


Darkwah faces charges on heroin distribution and conspiracy to import heroin, which carry maximum sentences of life in prison. Four others arrested in the investigation have already been extradited from Ghana to the United States.