COPS GET BAIL IN COKE TRIAL

IT was all jubilation and excitement on the premises of the Regional Tribunal yesterday when the circuit court granted bail to the nine police officers and six suspected drug barons busted in the Western Region for allegedly going to retrieve some parcels of cocaine which had been washed ashore near Axim and Half Assini.
The excitement started from the packed courtroom as soon as the judge announced that each of the accused persons had been granted bail in the sum of ¢500 million with a surety.
The large crowd, some of whom stood on the veranda, spontaneously heaved sighs of relief and carried their excitement outside where they joyfully hugged and kissed loved ones among the accused persons as they boarded a police vehicle for the bail documents to be executed.
The pleas of the accused person were not taken but the court, after listening to arguments by the a team of defence lawyers, upheld the bail applications.
According to the court, it had not been confirmed that any of the alleged substances was seen at the time of arrest.
Defence lawyers argued that the case was not one in which bail should be refused, especially when the alleged treasure hunting could not be linked to any particular offence.
According to them, the conduct of the policemen was administrative, which could be taken care of by the Police Administration.
They said the case was based on mere rumours that some substances had been jettisoned into the ocean and were likely to be washed ashore but at the time of the arrests those substances had not been found with the accused persons.
The policemen are G/Constable Cudjoe Mensah, L/Cpl Gideon Sakabito and G/Constable Dennis Agyeman, all of the La Police Station in Accra, where Constable Agyeman is the Armourer; G/Cpl George Obuobi of the Darkuman Police Station and G/L/Cpl Ebenezer Quao Afatsao of the Armoured Car Squadron but currently attached to the VVIPU at the Castle, Osu.
The others are L/Cpl Ben Somuah of the Armoured Car Squadron but currently on interdiction, L/Cpl Daniel Kagya of the Accra Central Police Station, Evans Asare Yeboah of the Armoured Car Squadron in Accra and G/Constable John Mensah-Gray of the Service Workshop attached to the Regional Headquarters, Accra.
The suspected drug dealers are Eric Asamoah, 35, Kwadwo Annim, alias Olympio, 35, Alex Addo, 36, Kwasi Kumeke, 27, Kwame Attah Yeboah, 33, and James Ofori, all businessmen in Accra.
The facts of the case were that in recent times the security agencies had been monitoring information that a vessel from an unidentified origin had discharged some parcels of substances suspected to be cocaine into the Atlantic Ocean which were expected to be washed ashore at the Gulf of Guinea, near Axim and Half Assini in the Western Region.
The prosecution said in their desire to make money from the floating fortune, the accused persons decided among themselves in Accra to go to the area to hunt for the treasure.
Consequently, on May 31, 2007 the accused persons set off from Accra at dawn in various cars for the area, ostensibly to retrieve the parcels of cocaine.
The Western Regional Security Council (REGSEC) got wind of the activities of the accused persons and put security men at the various checkpoints on high alert.
The security officials at the Apremdo Police Checkpoint near Takoradi spotted a BMW 4X4 with a DVLA number plate, a VW Golf, with registration number GE 9487 X, a Nissan Sentra, with registration number GW 6309 X, and a Geo Prism saloon car, with registration number GE 4501 W, and intercepted them while they were in a convoy.
After their arrest, the accused persons were later sent to the Police Headquarters in Accra for further investigations where it was established that all them left their duty posts in Accra without permission from their various commanders.
According to the prosecution, G/CPL Obuobi and L/CPL Afatsao, at the time of the operation, were in uniform and carried a pistol and an AK 47 assault rifle with three rounds of ammunition, respectively.
It said L/CPL Somuah was also armed with a pistol with five rounds of ammunition, while L/CPL Kagya was armed with an AK 47 assault rifle with 10 rounds of ammunition.
The rest of the policemen, it said, were in mufti and stated that all of them refused to give statements to the police unless their lawyers were present.