Nigeria halts Virgin flight after cocaine find

LAGOS, Aug 9 (Reuters) Nigerian police grounded a Virgin Atlantic flight to London after a crew member was caught trying to smuggle 1.7 kg of cocaine, authorities said today.

The aircraft was due to take off for Heathrow from the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos yesterday when it was stopped by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for a search.

The cocaine wrapped in a black polythene bag was hidden in an area reserved for the crew, local media reported, and a flight attendant was arrested.

''A member of (the) cabin crew who was due to operate flight VS652 from Lagos to Heathrow on the August 8 has been detained by the Nigerian authorities in Lagos,'' said Virgin Atlantic Airways, a unit of British based Virgin Group, in a statement.

The NDLEA issued a statement which quoted the attendant as admitting to the crime, saying he was offered 4,000 dollars by a London-based Nigerian to deliver the parcel, local media reported.

Nigeria does not produce narcotics, but its porous borders, lax airport security and corrupt bureaucracy have made it a major conduit for hard drugs from Asia and Latin America to markets in rich Western nations.

Sentences for smuggling narcotics in Nigeria are among the lightest in the world.

In January, a popular Nigerian film actress was fined 7,800 dollars by a court in Lagos for trying to smuggle 1.2 kg of cocaine to Britain.

Nigeria made its biggest drug haul in April when the NDLEA arrested a trafficker trying to smuggle 62.4 kg of heroin to the West Asia.

REUTERS GL KN1704