Unpublished (Vessel Owner and 5 others' case)

By William Yaw Owusu

Tuesday January23, 2003
The two Chinese being tried together with a Korean and three Ghanaians for their roles in the disappearance of 77 parcels of cocaine at the Tema Port have finally secured the services of counsel.

Cui Xian Li, 44, a vessel engineer and Luo Yui Xing, 49, now have Mr. Solomon Korley as their counsel.

The other accused persons in the case are Joseph Kojo Dawson, 34, the vessel owner, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean Engineer, Isaac Arhin, 49, Phillip Bruce Arhin, 49, a mechanic.

Dawson has pleaded not guilty to using his property for narcotic offences whiles Bok Sil pleaded not guilty to one account of engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs.

Isaac Arhin, Bruce Arhin, Li and Xing have all pleaded not guilty to two counts of engaging in a prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs and possessing of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.

When the case was called at the Fast Track high Court in Accra yesterday, Mr. Osei Owusu, counsel for Isaac Arhin and Bruce Arhin could not cross examine James Kingsley Inkoom, the second prosecution witness who was the cook on the vessel because the witness was his client during the initial sages of the case.

Mr. Korley therefore stood in to cross-examine the PW2. The witness told the court that when Isaac Arhin telephoned him to come to Takoradi, he did not find out who the owner of the vessel was or who was to pay his monthly salary.

He said he saw a smaller boat on the high seas offloading the cocaine into the vessel adding that “I saw everything from the kitchen. I later assisted my colleagues to pack them inside the hatch”.

Inkoom told the court presided over by Justice Annin Yeboah of the Court of Appeal that “what I was did not resemble engine parts as I was earlier told by the Chief Engineer. They looked like cartons of fish in sacks”.

The case was adjourned to January 29.