Online driver accused of attempted narcotic exportation remanded

A 25-year-old online driver has been remanded into police custody by Circuit Court Nine over an alleged attempt to transport dried plants suspected to be narcotic drugs.

Logko Pacome Aymar had hidden the substance in a ‘chic choc,’ strawberry carton containing 14 metallic containers, and was about to transport it to Douala, Cameroon when he was arrested.

He denied conspiring with one Winfred Henri Manga Dika, on the run, to transport the exhibit without a license from the Ministry of Health.

Aymar will be brought back to Court on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

Police Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah told the Court presided over by Samuel Bright Acquah that the Complainant in the case is the Managing Director of Koinonia Impex, a Freight Forwarding Agency located at Akweteyman near Lapaz, Accra, and a resident of Teshie, Accra.

Aymar, the accused, is an Uber driver and a Cameroonian, resident of Cantonments, a suburb of Accra. 

He said on May 5, 2023, at about 1030 hours, the Complainant was at his workplace when the accused went there with a Chic Choc Strawberry carton containing fourteen (14) metallic containers to be exported to Douala, Cameroon in Central Africa.

There, the complainant decided to check the content of the parcel and found that all the containers contained a quantity of dried plant material suspected to be narcotic drugs, Prosecution said. 

The Court heard that the Complainant, therefore, arrested Aymar and handed him together with the exhibits to a witness in the case. 

Chief Inspector Anquandah said later, the case was referred to the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters of the Ghana Police Service for investigation. 

In his investigation cautioned statement, the accused person confessed to the crime and mentioned one Winfried Henri Manga Dika, a Nigerian, as his source of supply.

The Court heard that during investigations, the accused person led the Police to his place of abode at Cantonments where ten partly smoked dried plant materials suspected to be narcotic drugs and GHS810.00 suspected to be proceeds from the narcotic trade were recovered from his room after a search. 

Chief Inspector Anquandah said Aymar also led police to a certain house at Kwabenya, Accra where he claimed his supplier resided, but he was not met. 

Exhibits have been forwarded to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Accra for examination and report, he said.