By William Yaw Owusu
Thursday, April 19, 2007
There is no record that Assistant Commissioner of Police (A.C.P.) Kofi Boakye officially reported his meeting with some suspected drug dealers, two of whom are on trial, to any security institution, a packed Accra Fast Track High Court heard yesterday.
A.C.P. Boakye had told the Justice Georgina Wood Committee which probed into the issue of the missing 76 parcels of cocaine on board the MV Benjamin vessel at Tema Port, last year, that he reported his meeting with the suspected drug dealers to his superiors and security authorities.
But Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, the investigator in the case of the missing cocaine, told the court that he did not find any record from the Police or the National Security about the issue.
Inspector Adaba was being cross-examined during the trial of Kwabena Amaning, also known as Tagor, and Alhaji Issah Abass in connection with the missing cocaine.
Tagor and Abass were among the 14 people recommended for prosecution by the Georgina Wood Committee set up by the Ministry of the Interior to investigate the circumstances surrounding the loss of the cocaine and another quantity of cocaine seized from a house at East Legon in Accra in November 2005.
Tagor is facing four counts of conspiracy, engaging in prohibited business related to narcotic drugs, buying of narcotic drugs and supply of narcotic drugs, while Abass is charged with three counts of conspiracy, engaging in prohibited business related to narcotic drugs and supply of narcotic drugs.
The two have pleaded not guilty to all the charges and are in prison custody.
Under cross examination by Ellis Owusu Fordjuor and Mohammed Attah, counsel for Tagor and Abass respectively, Inspector Adaba who is the seventh prosecution witness, told the court that when he took over the case, another investigator, Detective Inspector Justice Oppong had already contacted investigations into certain aspects of the case.
“For this reason I focused my investigations, on the tape which was secretly recorded by an unknown person.”
He said the accused persons admitted in their caution statements, given to Inspector Oppong as being at the meeting in A.C.P. Boakye’s residence but when he interrogated them, they did not make any admission of dealing in cocaine.
“The accused persons never told me they were dealing in narcotic drugs. Tagor did not tell me he sold a quantity of cocaine to Mama Tess and he also did not say he went to Belgium to collect proceeds of the drug, but I heard all these on the tape".
Witness told the court that the tape given to him by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to conduct investigations into the case was the original copy of the recordings and had not been “doctored”.
He said on the tape the accused confessed their previous drug deals and conspired to track down the person who had taken possession of the 76 parcels but when he interrogated them, they did not say so.
“Abass for instance said on the tape that he had 200 keys and my investigations revealed that the reference to keys meant cocaine and they made accusations and counter accusations.”
As to whether he extended his investigations to Manhyia Palace, Inspector Adaba told the court that Inspector Oppong had already done that and had come to the court to testify in that regard.
He said the two had denied knowledge of the missing parcels.
To another question, the witness said that it was a Circuit Court that handled the case in which the Bureau of National Investigations froze the bank accounts of Abass for money laundering and added that he had tried to locate Mama Tess but to no avail.
At this point, the presiding Appeal Court Judge, Justice Jones Dotse, adjourned proceedings until April 25, for further cross examination by another counsel, Mr. Osafo Buaben, for Abass.
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