Lagos — As a measure to curb the increasing spate of drug smuggling through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, the Director- General of Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, has threatened to ban any airline operating into the country that is involved in drug trafficking.

Demuren issued the threat yesterday in Lagos during a meeting with top security operatives at the airport, airline representatives and senior aviation agency officials, saying that any airline or other organisations involved in aiding and abetting drug traffickers would be dealt with by the laws of the land.

He said that the Federal Government had directed 100 per cent screening of all passengers and crew including pilots, while airline whose staff is caught with drugs at the airport will automatically be grounded while the owner of such drugs will be dealt with seriously, according to the law.

The NCAA boss was reacting to the report that there was a drug cartel at the nation's busiest airport, involving workers of the organisations that carry out services at the airport.

"The reason why we called you is because of our concern about drug trafficking at the airport, so that whether the people facilitating it are the passengers or the crew members or the workers of the airlines or the airport-generally airports workers; we called you so that you will as much as possible work with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and work with us to stop drugs at the airport, " he said.

He urged the airlines to check their workers-their cabin crew, flight crew, maintenance engineers, catering outfit to ensure that they are not carrying drugs in and out of the airport.

"This has come to a level that is very embarrassing right now. Let me say this, if any airline is caught , it will be very, very severe punishment that will come upon it. You have to change because we cannot continue to operate this way. The consequence of any airline involved in drug trafficking is very stiff in Nigeria ; that will be the last time the airline will fly in this country," he warned.