MV BENJAMIN COCAINE DESTROYED ON COURT ORDER

THE 25 kilogrammes of cocaine found aboard the MV Benjamin was destroyed today on the orders of an Accra Fast Track High Court.
That was after the prosecution had tendered the 25 slabs of the substance through the police investigator, Inspector Charles Adabah, who continued his evidence-in-chief in the case in which the vessel owner and five crew members are being tried for their roles in the importation of the substance.
To make sure that the substance was cocaine, officials from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) appeared in court to field-test a sample and declared that it was cocaine, after which sitting was suspended and the court moved to the site where the cocaine was burnt in the presence of the judge, Mr Justice Annin Yeboah, a Court of Appeal judge with additional responsibility as a High Court judge.
Also present were other officials, including those from the Environmental Protection Agency.
The 25 slabs of cocaine were part of 77 slabs which the prosecution say were imported into the country through the MV Benjamin but before the security agencies got wind of its dock at the Tema Port, all but one parcel containing the 25 slabs had been stolen.
Following that, the owner of the vessel, Joseph Kojo Dawson, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean; Isaac Arhin and Philip Bruce Arhin, both Ghanaians, and Cui Xian Li and Luo Yin Xing, both Chinese, who are alleged to have played various roles in the importation of the substance are being tried.
They have been charged with various counts of using a 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 has been remanded in prison custody.
Led in evidence by Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, a Senior State Attorney, the police investigator said when he took over the case from his predecessor, the docket, as well as the parcel containing the cocaine, was handed over to him.
He said initially the parcel contained 30 slabs of cocaine, each weighing one kilogramme, but five slabs got missing in the custody of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), in whose custody the substance was.
After the cocaine was tendered, the judge declared, “Let the exhibits be destroyed in the full view of the court” and subsequently suspended sitting for some time.
On resumption of the court, Inspector Adabah concluded his evidence-in-chief and was cross-examined by Mr D.K. Ameley, counsel for the vessel owner.
The witness said when he took over the case a statement by the vessel owner, dated May 5, 2006, was on the docket and he did not believe that the accused person gave a caution statement to the NACOB officials who invited him after the other accused persons had been arrested.
When counsel wanted to find out from the witness whether he knew the circumstance under which the statement was given by the vessel owner, Inspector Adabah said since the accused person was only invited by NACOB, naturally he gave an ordinary statement, since he had not been arrested then.
The witness disagreed with counsel that the accused person wrote his statement based on a questionnaire that was given to him by the NACOB officials and explained that that was the case when a suspect or anyone was invited or even arrested.
“The accused person went to NACOB as a witness and not as a suspect,” the witness stated.
He said it was Arhin who signed the vessel’s movement card in his capacity as an employee of Dashment Company Ltd, although he did not know his contract agreement.
Inspector Adabah, however, disagreed with counsel that Arhin was put on the vessel by a Korean called Mr Bae and indicated that even if the accused person was employed by the said Mr Bae, it did not make any difference, since he was a part owner of Dashment Company Ltd, owners of the vessel.
The witness did not agree with counsel that the vessel stayed at the Takoradi Harbour anchorage for at least four months because it was faulty but stated that he was aware the vessel docked at the port on November 10, 2005.
According to him, as of April 20, 2000, the vessel was owned by Dashment Company Ltd and he did not investigate how it was acquired by the company, while he did not see a copy of the hire purchase agreement on the vessel.
Inspector Adabah agreed with counsel that under the charter agreement between Atico Fisheries and Dashment Company Ltd, it was the charterer who was responsible for the recruitment of crew and supplies and it was in that respect that Sheriff, on December 21, 2005, took a loan of ¢250 million from the Unique Trust Financial Services Limited to purchase marine fuel which was used for the vessel to embark on its ill-fated voyage.
He also said it was Arhin who invited Bruce to join the crew, after Bruce had been laid off in 2004 and had been unemployed.
Meanwhile, General Sergeant David Nyarko, one of the three policemen being tried for allegedly aiding the fugitive Sheriff to abscond with 2,280 kilogrammes of cocaine, concluded his evidence-in-chief yesterday after he was briefly cross-examined by his two colleagues who are on trial with him.
Sgt Nyarko is standing trial with General Lance Corporal Dwamena Yabson and General Lance Corporal Peter Bondorin, while a fourth accomplice, Detective Sergeant Samuel Yaw Amoah, is on the run.
The accused persons are alleged to have received an unspecified amount in dollars from the fugitive cocaine owner and allowed him to flee.
They have been charged with two counts of engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs and corruption by a public officer and have pleaded not guilty to both counts.
When General Lance Corporal Yabson asked Sgt Nyarko whether he knew him prior to the incident, the latter replied in the negative. He also said he did not see the Lance Corporal in the Toyota Land Cruiser which was spotted at the Kpone Beach during their operation, nor did he see its occupants.
When it was the turn of Lance Corporal Bondorin, he also asked the accused person whether he knew him prior to the operation, to which Sgt Nyarko replied in the negative.
The accused person further said he did not see Lance Corporal Bondorin stop any car during the operation at the Kpone Beach.