2 Kotoka Wee Suspects Run Away, 3 Charged

HREE PERSONS believed to have played various roles in the exportation of 7.5 kilogrammes of cocaine and 1545 kilogrammes of herbal cannabis (Wee) to the United Kingdom recently have been put before an Accra Circuit Court.

The accused persons, Charles Abodakpi, security supervisor, Abdon Dzata, customs officer, and Samuel Aryee Tettey, tractor driver, were yesterday put before a court presided over by Francis Obiri and charged with two charges of conspiracy to commit crime and prohibited business relating to narcotic each.

The accused persons were arrested following preliminary investigations conducted in the illegal exportation of the narcotic drugs to the UK. The cannabis was busted at Heathrow Airport, UK, after leaving Ghana undetected recently.

They all pleaded not guilty to the charges but have been remanded by the court to re-appear on October 17, 2012.

Meanwhile, two other accomplices, Obed Amevor and Frank Amoah aka Kofi are at large.

DSP Aidan Dery informed the court that on September 24 and 25 2012, the accused persons and those on the run allegedly played various roles in promoting and facilitating the exportation of the said narcotic drugs with street value £4.3million.

The prosecutor stated that Abodakpi, a security supervisor at Aviance Ghana Limited, together with Tettey, a tractor driver at the said company and one Amevor, the security supervisor of Aviation Profile Security Services, allegedly connived with Dzata, the customs officer at the scan unit at the airport, when they presented documents in respect of some foodstuffs meant for export in four consignments.

Dzata reportedly was to certify the consignment, which allegedly contained narcotic drugs, for their release to the aircraft but he claimed that the scanner machine had broken down.

He allegedly certified the consignment and released it for exportation.

Abodakpi and Amevor were said to have escorted the consignment whilst Dzata drove it to the aircraft.

The prosecutor disclosed that the custom officer, when the scanner machine broke down, was mandated to invite the security agencies at the airport such as NACOB, National Security, Aviation Security for a joint physical check for the consignments to ensure that nothing incriminating was included.

However, DSP Dery said, Dzata intentionally refused to invite the security agencies for the physical check but simply certified the documents upon sighting the consignments.

He also failed to make any notes in his occurrence book when the scanning machine allegedly broke down.

According to the prosecutor, information gathered from NICK TC Scan revealed that the scanner machine actually broke down on September 25, 2012 at 2:30am but that was after the consignments had already left the airport.