Members of Heroin Smuggling Ring Charged

Federal prosecutors charged eight men and women for being involved with smuggling heroin from Ghana to the U.S. through .

Two of the women are reported to have been living in Alexandria: Matilda Antwi, 29, and Yvonne Ansah Owusu, 26. 

Antwi allegedly attempted to traffick 1.2 kilograms of heroin on Sept. 4, 2010 after being recruited by the alleged leader of the trafficking organization and Ghana resident, Edward Macauley, aka Cudjoe Opoku.

Owusu allegedly attempted to transport 3.3 kilograms of heroin on May 29, 2011 and was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She reported that she was promised $15,000 to smuggle the drugs.  

“International drug-trafficking organizations pose a sustained, serious threat to the safety and security as of our communities, and West Africa has grown as a major transshipment point for these organizations,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “We can’t ignore transnational organizations in other countries on the naïve assumption that they are a danger only overseas. We are committed to disrupting overseas sources of supply before the drugs reach our borders and to take out the organization’s leadership regardless of where across the globe they reside.”

“Drug trafficking organizations know no borders,” said DEA SAC Cooper-Davis. “This case highlights the cooperative efforts of U.S. law enforcement working with our global partners to dismantle international drug trafficking organizations impacting the United States. Let this be a message to others who would engage in trafficking drugs to the United States, you must know that there are no boundaries that can protect you from the long arm of the U.S. justice system.  There is no ‘safe haven’ from your crimes.”