By
William Yaw Owusu
Monday, December 8, 2014
It has emerged that the Ghanaian lady arrested in
London Heathrow for carrying 12.5kg of cocaine travelled to Europe particularly
the United Kingdom frequently the last fateful one being her seventh this year.
Nayele Ametefeh aka Angel aka Ruby Adu-Gyamfi aka
Irene Tawiah aka Ruby Appiah was travelling to London when luck run out for her
and she was busted for cocaine.
She’s currently cooling off in Her Majesty’s
Bronzefield prison in the UK after pleading guilty on the first day of court
proceedings and is due for sentencing on January 5, 2015 at the Isleworth Crown
Court.
Gov’t
u-turn
The NDC government in the initial stages of her
arrest vehemently denied that Ruby used the highly restricted VVIP section of the
Kotoka International Airport, Accra to board the BA078 flight to London but
later conceded she had used the facility reserved only for the president and
his top officials.
The confirmation was contained in the charge sheets
used to detain people including the overseer of the VVIP section who are being
kept for aiding and abetting Ruby to ship Class A cocaine with a street value
of $5million.
Protocol
treatment
Ruby always enjoyed protocol service in her travels and
as a result, she became emboldened that she could move about the restricted
section of the Airport without checks according to a source.
Other sources said she was driven onto the tarmac to
board the flight and as another waited for her at Heathrow a feature of her
travels.
The government later claimed the vehicle was
supposed to pick up senior military officers but could not show any itinerary for
the soldiers.
In a particular month, a source said she travelled
twice and hardly spent more than a week in Europe.
But for her stupidity in removing and rearranging
the cocaine on board the flight, she would have gone away with it, according to
the source.
The British security agents reportedly seized Ruby’s
three phones and sources said when she was arrested, she made frantic phone
calls to a leading NDC government appointee in Accra for a much-needed
intervention.
Within hours of her arrest on November 10, American
Drug Enforcement Agents also reportedly flew to London to interrogate her and are
said to be decrypting the phones seized to unravel the contents.
Sources said the UK and US law enforcers are also busily
sharing notes and as a result some Ghanaian officials who fear they might be
implicated have suddenly developed cold feet in travelling outside the country.
Aiding
& Abetting
So far, nine people have been arrested in the United Kingdom while six
including Alhaji Dawood
Mohammed who played crucial campaign roles for the National
Democratic Congress (NDC) during
the 2012 general elections, has been nabbed in Ghana.
Those arrested in the
UK have been named by the British authorities as Charbel Nasr, Mouiw Jaafar and
Abdullah Mustrah, all Lebanese, Matiotto Bernard Young and Indian, Faisal
Khadar an American as well as Paa Kwesi Acquah and Mustapha Kilba.
Ghana connection
The suspects arrested in Ghana include Abiel
Ashietey Armah a Foreign Service Officer in charge of the VVIP lounge; Ahmed
Abubakar, Protocol Officer and Kissi Theophilius, a Civil Servant who have been
accused of assisting Ruby to ship the cocaine.
The rest are two ladies Sadala Nuhu and Nana Akua
Amponsah both businesswomen who were said to have travelled with Ruby but
quickly fled back to Ghana when the baroness was arrested at Heathrow.
Alhaji
Dawood factor
The ‘kignpin’ as described by the government is Alhaji
Dawood, originator of ‘Zongo For Mahama’ which canvassed votes for the
President in 2012.
He is accused of allegedly making telephone call to
the boss of the VVIP section of KIA to facilitate the processing and entry of
Ruby and her girls into the BA flight through the VVIP.
His counsel Kwabena Addo Attuah confirmed last week
that Alhaji Dawood indeed aided Ruby’s easy passage through the VVIP Lounge at
the KIA but said no malice was intended on the part of his client.
Counsel maintained, “Yes he (Dawood)
knows Nayele and according to my instructions, he only knew Nayele for
about two to three weeks, and not more. Well, they met in a shop according
to my instructions.
“She is a pretty lady, so he
approached her and they interacted and they started exchanging addresses, and
then they became friends, I should say acquainted…I wouldn’t say that she has
any interest in it (him), I cannot confirm. But I am only saying that they
became acquainted. I cannot confirm whether they had any amorous relationship,”
counsel said.
MP
Bombshell
Firebrand NPP MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene
Agyapong last week stated categorically that Ruby’s decision not to say
anything about the cocaine shipment was because she had been offered $3million
by the NDC government not to speak.
It will be recalled that Foreign Minister Hannah
Tetteh recently told the nation that the cocaine baroness has said she will not
speak and also said the suspect has said she was willing to ‘do’ the jail term.
A week after her arrest, Ghana’s High Commissioner to
London Emmanuel Victor Smith said he was dispatching embassy staff to
interrogate Ruby in prison and many questioned the wisdom behind visiting a
person who the government claim was holding Austrian passport in the first
place.
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