By William Yaw Owusu
Monday February 19, 2007
Isaac Arhin, one of the crew on board the MV Benjamin vessel charged with the importation of 77 parcels of cocaine into the country, is said to have admitted in a statement that the cocaine was collected from the high seas between Liberia and Sierra Leone.
He was alleged to have said in his statement read in court by a prosecution witness that although they realised that cartons off loaded into their vessel contained cocaine, they were afraid to talk about it because the captain was armed with a gun.
Commander Issah Yakubu, a Naval Officer of the Ghana Navy, read Issac Arhin’s statement yesterday in his evidence at the Accra Fast Track High Court trying the vessel owner and five others including a Korean and two Chinese.
The vessel owner, Joseph Kojo Dawson, 34, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean engineer; Isaac Arhin, 49; Phillip Bruce Arhin, 49, a mechanic; Cui Xian Li, 44, a vessel engineer and Luo Yui Xing, 49, both Chinese have been charged with various roles they played in the importation of the cocaine to the Tema Port. Seventy six of the parcels are missing.
Dawson has pleaded not guilty to using his property for narcotic offences while Bok Sil also pleaded not guilty to one count of engaging in prohibited business related to narcotic drugs.
Isaac Arhin, Bruce Arhin, Li and Xing have all pleaded not guilty to two counts of engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs and possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Led in evidence by William Kpobi, a Principal State Attorney, Commander Yakubu, the fourth prosecution witness, told the court that Isaac Arhin wrote and signed the statement on April 27, last year.
“We were told that we were going to try the engine of the vessel but to my surprise, we discovered that we were in a dangerous place around Monrovia-Freetown but we could not even talk. We had to shut our mouths so that we can come back safely to Ghana,” Commander Yakubu quoted the accused’s statement as saying.
“I suspected the parcels which were 77 in number, to be cocaine but we were all afraid to talk because the Captain was armed,” the statement further said.
Commander Yakubu told the court that he was in charge of the Ghana Navy Ship which was tasked to arrest the fishing traweler, MV Adede II, following intelligence report that it was carrying cocaine.
He said they succeeded in locating the vessel at the breakwaters/anchorage of the Tema Port on April 26, last year, but the name, Adede II, had been changed to MV Benjamin and the vessel re-painted.
Commander Yakubu told the court presided over by Justice Annin Yeboah of the Court of Appeal that, Isaac Arhin told him that the crew had not seen or heard about the vessel Adede II.
“I sent four of my men into the suspected vessel and together with them, we escorted it to the Tema Port where we met another search team led by officers from the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).”
He further told the court that the accused persons said they had been trying the engine and had not been fishing for the past year adding, “When the vessel clocked at the port, we went straight to the bridge and met Isaac Arhin, Li and Xing.”
“During the search, we saw a small paper with the inscription, MV Adede II and immediately the accused persons became Jittery but still insisted that they were at sea to try the engine.”
Proceeding with the search, Commander Yakubu said they located the hatch but it had been locked with a padlock and they had to break it in order to get inside.
Inside the hatch were empty cartons scattered all over. Li and Xing, who were at all times passive because they claimed they could not speak English, became active all of a sudden, he said.
“Li at a point in the hatch, attempted to prevent one of my men from getting to where the only parcel was found but he pushed him aside and retrieved it,” the witness continued.
“The only parcel found was wrapped with a black polythene bag and in it, were 30 slabs each weighing one kilogramme and a field test conducted by the NACOB team proved positive of cocaine:
Commander Yakubu during cross-examination told the court that the accused persons had said the captain went away with 76 parcels in a canoe the previous night before the vessel was intercepted, adding, and “I am being truthful to this court.”
Proceedings have been adjourned until February 20.
No comments:
Post a Comment