COCAINE SUSPECTS SENT TO HOSPITAL

By Stephen K. Effah
Friday, 20 June 2008

THE Greater Accra Regional Tribunal yesterday ordered the police to send two of the three persons being held for their involvement in the 399 parcels of cocaine intercepted by the police on May 30, to hospital for treatment of hearing difficulty as a result of alleged police beatings.

The order follows an application by counsel for the accused, Frederick Boamah, who alleged that two of his clients, Kwame Anane, 34, and Kofi Amewu,30, were severely beaten up by the police upon their arrest, resulting in their difficulty in hearing.

This was when the two, and Kofi Deble, 35, made their second appearance at the court yesterday.

Their plea were not taken and they were remanded in prison custody to appear again on July 17.
The three are facing three counts of conspiracy, possession of narcotic drugs without authority and importation of narcotic drugs without authority.

The court, presided over by Justice Frank Manu, a High Court Judge, also ordered a test of the cow legs and hide under which the cocaine were concealed to determine their wholesomeness or otherwise.

He directed that the cow legs and hide be sold if found to be wholesome otherwise they should be destroyed. The police should also take a video or photograph of the items before being disposed of for use as exhibit in the trial.

The prosecutor, DSP. P.K. Frimpong, told the court that investigations were still going on, noting that the owners of the cow legs and hide as well as the truck, had not yet been identified.

Mr Boamah deplored the circumstances under which his clients were denied counsel upon their arrest by the police and their subsequent "smuggling to court for remand".

He said since he was not in court at their first appearance on June 2, "I don’t know the charges preferred against them and I will pray that in our next appearance their charges are read in court."preferred against them and I will pray that in our next appearance their charges are read in court."

He told the court that he has difficulty getting access to his clients, noting that he had to go through bureaucratic procedures before he was allowed to see them.
"Counsel should have unfettered access to confer with the accused persons to prepare them," he stated

He gave notice of his intention to apply for bail for the accused persons at the next hearing, arguing that they were just a driver and his mates, and the truck was registered in the name of a limited liability company and, therefore, finding its owners should not be difficult as claimed by the prosecution.

He said that the parcels of cocaine were so hidden that it was difficult for the driver and the mates to have an idea about them, adding that the police themselves had a tough time locating them.

The prosecution says that on May 30, 2008, the Nsawam police, acting upon a tip-off, mounted surveillance and intercepted the truck with registration number GT 3359 Z, said to have entered Ghana from Conakry, Guinea.

A search conducted on the vehicle uncovered 399 parcels of a whitish substance suspected to be cocaine concealed in an artificially created compartment. The occupants of the vehicle were arrested to assist the police in their investigations.