TWO BURKINABES JAILED 10 YEARS EACH

TWO Burkinabes domiciled in Italy were each sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment yesterday by the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal for narcotic-related offences.
The convicts, Gubre Karim, 34, and Monni Moussa, 27, were arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) in Accra on suspicion of carrying cocaine during pre-departure formalities to board a flight to Italy .
A search on them revealed that they had each concealed pellets of cocaine weighing 1296.1422 grammes.
They pleaded guilty to one count each of possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority and the tribunal, presided over by Mr Justice Frank Manu, convicted and sentenced them on their own pleas.
It also ordered that the convicts should be deported after serving their sentences.
According to the facts of the case, Karim, who claimed to be an artisan, was arrested at the KIA at about 1.45 p.m. on September 9, last year when he was going through pre-departure formalities to board a flight to Italy.
Aviation personnel on duty suspected Karim of carrying narcotics because of his strange movements and demeanour and when his travelling bag was searched, 109 pellets of cocaine were concealed in it.
Karim claimed ownership of the stuff and explained that it had been given to him by someone he named only as David to be delivered to Kwame in Italy for a fee of 5,000 Euros.
He, however, failed to lead security personnel to the said David.
In the case of Moussa, he was also arrested by the same aviation personnel at the KIA on suspicion of carrying narcotic drugs when he was going through pre-departure formalities to board a flight to Italy and during a search it was found that he had concealed 50 pellets, 40 pellets and another 20 pellets of the substance in his underpants, right pocket and left pocket, respectively.
He also mentioned the same name which had earlier been mentioned by Karim as his source of supply and said he was to be paid 4,000 Euros after delivering it to Kwame in Italy.