Actor and filmmaker John Appea has narrated an intriguing story of how he was asked to transport hard drugs from Africa to the West when he was a teenager.

According to the Home Sweet Home star, he firmly refused to give in to the temptation of making illicit money because of his religious conviction.

“When I was about 15, 16, I would travel to my father with my diplomatic passport and when I got to European airports my bags were never searched. People who got to know that was who I was approached me to send drugs to France and Germany. They would say, ‘Just put in in your bag, no one would see, your bag is never checked’. And I was a young man. Imagine the temptation of being able to make fast money but I always had that belief that I don’t need to make money fast,” the Ghanaian entrepreneur said on the Konnected Minds podcast.

Appea recognised a bit of luck and not being infatuated with riches helped, too.

“If my life is around making money then maybe I would’ve done that. But my life was never really about money. It’s always been about success in what I do: making God proud, and using my position to help others who are less fortunate than I was. For me, that is the driving force, not the money,” he said.

Raised a Christian, John's father is Rev Dr Emmanuel Apea Snr, a former diplomat and UN ambassador.