Alleged British drug lord arrested in Ghana

An alleged British drug lord who has been hiding from UK security authorities for years, has been arrested in Ghana’s capital Accra, the British High Commissioner to Ghana has confirmed.

David McDermott according to UK media reports has been on the run for about 3 years. He claims to be married to the daughter of Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, Governor of Ghana’s Central Bank.

McDermott, 42 was arrested on Friday at his home in the affluent Burma Hills in Accra during a joint operation involving officers from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) and Ghana’s Bureau of National Investigations (BNI).

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin in a tweet commended Ghana’s BNI for their role in the arrest of the alleged drug baron.

I am very grateful to the BNI for their excellent collaboration today in the arrest of a wanted British fugitive > https://t.co/d8l8ljcp4Y

— Jon Benjamin (@JonBenjamin19) March 11, 2016

The NCA on its website said: “McDermott is suspected of being a member of a Liverpool-based organised crime group involved in a conspiracy to import and supply cocaine which was seized from a container of frozen Argentinian beef in May 2013 at Tilbury Docks. He is also wanted for conspiracy to blackmail.

The NCA further describes McDermott as “the last man outstanding in a plot to smuggle a huge quantity of cocaine which would have ended up on the streets of Merseyside. He will now be returned to the UK to stand trial.”

An extradition process for McDermott to the UK is expected to begin next week.