The Ghana Consulate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has expressed concern about a sudden increase in the number of Ghanaians attempting to smuggle marijuana (weed) into Dubai, which has led to the arrest of five people in the last three months.

According to the Consulate, five Ghanaians were arrested at the Dubai International Airport for drug trafficking between January 2021 and March 2021.

Out of the five, one of them has already been jailed for 10-years.

A statement by Ghana’s consulate in Dubai issued on Wednesday, April 21, 2021, said the person in question who has been jailed claimed he had no knowledge of the "weed" which was in his possession.

The Consulate has therefore advised Ghanaians traveling to Dubai to be cautious about accepting parcels which they cannot verify the contents from agents.

It explained that the substances were usually concealed in food items and were reportedly given to travelers by their agents in Ghana, “the sad part of it all is that, all the parcels containing the weed were given to them by the agents in Ghana who acquired the UAE visa for them, with instructions to them to give the parcels to their counterpart agents in the UAE on arrival. It is also interesting to know that the weed is normally hidden in food items.”

They have therefore cautioned travelers to desist from receiving items from agents or other persons unless they can establish the exact contents of such packages.