Navy Commander testifies in coke case

A NAVY Commander has told the Accra Fast Track High Court hearing the case involving the missing cocaine on board the MV Benjamin that a security team which searched the vessel at the Tema Harbour found a piece of paper on which the original name of the vessel, MV Adede II, had been written.
Commander Issah Yakubu said that raised the team’s suspicion that the name of the vessel had been changed from MV Adede II to its present name because some fresh paint was seen where its name was written.
According to the witness, when the team spotted the vessel, it sent a radio message to find out whether it had a sister vessel by the name MV Adede II but the crew denied knowledge of any vessel with that name.
He was testifying in the case concerning some missing cocaine on board the MV Benjamin in which the vessel owner, Joseph Kojo Dawson, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean, Isaac Arhin and Philip Bruce Arhin, both Ghanaians, Cui Xian Li and Luo Yin Xing, both Chinese, are alleged to have played various roles leading to the importation of 77 parcels of cocaine, each weighing 30 kilogrammes, into the country.
They have been charged with various counts of using property for narcotic offences, engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotics and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Each of them has pleaded not guilty to all the charges and have been remanded into prison custody.
Led in evidence by Mr William Kpobie, a Principal State Attorney, the witness gave an account of the operation, which he led as the captain of a Ghana Navy ship sent to look for a suspected vessel carrying narcotics into the country.
He was able to identify the accused persons, except the vessel owner and the Korean.
Commander Yakubu said the team sailed from the Sekondi Naval Base to look for the MV Adede II, having armed itself with a photograph of the vessel.
He said the team did not find anything until April 27 when it was about to replenish its stock when it saw the MV Benjamin at the Tema Port anchorage.
The witness said when he sent the radio message, Isaac, who said he was the second in command, responded and denied that they had a sister vessel called MV Adede II.
"When I asked whether he had heard about the name Adede before, he replied ‘no’," witness said, and added that he asked that question because the photograph they had of the MV Adede was similar to the MV Benjamin.
Commander Yakubu said that raised his suspicion and, therefore, he sent four men on board the MV Benjamin to look for the documents of the ship, which it did not have.
He said when the crew was asked about the documents, they explained that they had left them in the office. To another question on how long the vessel had been at sea, they replied that they had not been fishing for the past one year.
According to him, the crew stated that they were testing the engine of the vessel, a reply which prompted him to ask them how long they had been at their current position, to which they replied the past one week.
He said that also raised his suspicion because the team had not seen them the previous day.
At that stage, the witness said that he informed the crew that they were being escorted to the main harbour and got his boss informed about the development.
He said when the team arrived at the harbour, personnel from the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) were already there with some Navy officers waiting for them.
He said the team, in its bid to search the vessel, first visited the bridge, from where the vessel was controlled, where Isaac Arhin was recognised, together with the two Chinese.
Commander Yakubu said in the presence of the NACOB personnel, the crew were asked whether they knew of the MV Adede II and they denied any knowledge.
It was when the team started searching through the books on a table on the vessel that they found MV Adede II written on a small paper, with a few glossaries.
"This is what you have and you have said that you did not know anything about the vessel?" witness said he asked the crew, and showed to them the photograph they had of the MV Adede II.
After that, the witness said, he put it to the crew that the MV Benjamin was the MV Adede II but after that question he realised the crew had become jittery so he asked them to confess. But they still denied, maintaining that they had gone for engine testing.
Commander Yakubu said with that exhibit the crew was told that their vessel was going to be searched, after statements had been taken from them.
A photograph was taken of Isaac Arhin's statement and tendered in court, together with other photographs of the operation.
In the statement, the accused admitted that the cartons parked into the vessel contained cocaine because the captain said so.
He stated that to the best of his knowledge the vessel was to sail to Tema but the crew later realised that it was sailing to dangerous seas so they asked the captain what the matter was.
Arhin said they sailed to the sea around Monrovia, Liberia, and because they feared for their safety, they kept quiet over the incident until the vessel entered the anchorage of the breakwater in Tema.
Commander Yakubu said from Arhin’s testimony, he thought the job was completed but on his way to the office Mr Ben Ndego of NACOB called him and said that since NACOB did not have the expertise, the Navy team should assist in searching the vessel.
He said when the got to the hatch of the vessel, it was locked, but it was forced open with the assistance of one of the crew members.
In the course of all that, he said, the two Chinese remained very passive, since they did not speak English, but during the search one of them became active by leading them but he suddenly changed his countenance and prevented one officer from carrying a bag in which the 30 slabs of cocaine was concealed.
He said the captain of the vessel escaped with one of the canoes which had gone to take the cargo from the MV Benjamin the previous night before the accused persons were arrested.