By Stephen K. Effah
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
Philip Bruce Arhin, one of the five persons jailed on July 25, for his involvement in the MV Benjamin cocaine case, is reported to have died at the Nsawam Medium Prisons Clinic on Saturday.
A source close to the police told the Times yesterday that Arhin, had been on admission at the Nsawam Government Hospital, but was discharged last Friday. However, he died the following day.
The source said although the immediate cause of Arhin’s death is not yet known, he is believed to have died from jaundice.
Arhin, was not in court on July 25, because of his poor health condition when his four accomplices were given a total of 125 years jail term in hard labour by an Accra Fast Track High Court which found them guilty of their various charges.
Each of them was jailed 25 years with retrospective effect from the day of their arrest.
Arhin, a mechanic in the MV Benjamin, was convicted together with his brother, Isaac Arhin, also a mechanic, Cui Xian Li, a vessel engineer and Luo Yui Xing, sailor, both Chinese, on the charges of possessing narcotic drugs without authority and engaging in prohibited business.
The other accomplice, Joseph Kojo Dawson, Managing Director of Dashment Company Limited, was also convicted on the charge of using his property for narcotic offence.
In March 2006, the MV Benjamin vessel was impounded by a combined team of the Narcotics Control Board, the Ghana Navy, the Ghana Air Force and the National Security Secretariat at the Tema Harbour.
Their trial which began in November 2006, after investigations, ended in March 2008 with the prosecution calling a total of 13 witnesses.
The accused, however denied any wrongdoing.
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