Addis Ababa - Fourteen Angolan nationals were arrested at Addis Ababa’s International Airport in connection with their alleged involvement in international drug trafficking.
The Angolan ambassador to Ethiopia, Francisco da Cruz, said Monday in that country’s capital, Addis Ababa, adding that the Angolans, mostly from Brazil, who used Bole International Airport in possession of alleged drugs, were bound for Luanda, Angola.
"It is a worrying situation and, at the moment, we have 14 Angolan citizens in this condition, seven men and an equal number of women", he explained.
The diplomat said that this number tends to increase, noting that, recently, an Angolan citizen was sentenced in Ethiopia for drug trafficking to 12 years, a situation that he said requires special attention by the Angolan authorities.
"As an Embassy, our responsibility is to provide all the necessary consular support and, as far as possible, discuss with the Ethiopian authorities the best way to deal with this matter", he stressed.
The ambassador Francisco da Cruz spoke of the need for cooperation at the level of the two States in dealing with this issue, both from a preventive point of view and from those who are already dealing with justice, "perhaps thinking about a possible extradition of some of them to serving their sentences in national territory".
Angola does not have any agreement on the extradition of prisoners with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, which has complicated the situation of Angolans detained in that country.
Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, Angola and Ethiopia have signed few cooperation agreements, with the exception of air services and trade.
The two governments signed the Bilateral Air Services Agreement in May 1977, supplemented by a Memorandum of Understanding in September, 1998 to allow the respective airlines (TAAG and Ethiopian Airlines) to develop daily passenger and cargo services between the two capitals.
This legal instrument also established the principle of reviewing and signing the Air Services Agreement.
Luanda and Addis Ababa maintain five weekly flight frequencies with Ethiopian Airlines planes. DC/AL/ADR
