Trial of Venezuelans in cocaine case adjourned

Accra, July 27, GNA - The trial of the two Venezuelans busted with 588 kilograms of cocaine at East Legon in November 2006 was on Thursday adjourned to October 16 by the Fast Track High Court in Accra because of the legal vacation slated for August.

The two, Joel Meija Duarte Moises, aka Joel Mella, a 35-year-old machine operator and Italo Gervasio Rosero, alias Italio Cabeza Castillo, a 38-year-old businessman, have pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit crime, importing narcotic drug without lawful authority and possessing narcotic drug without authority.

Vasquez Gerado Duarte David, aka Bude or Shamo, is at large. Defence Counsel for Rosero, Mr Koblah Senanu renewed his client's application for bail, saying since the Court would be embarking on its legal vacation, which was beyond 30 days; it should grant his client bail.

Ms Gertrude Aikins, Chief State Attorney, drew the Court's attention to the increase of drug trafficking in the country and said the laws of the country must be made to bite. She said the effects of cocaine could only be appreciated when one visited the psychiatric hospitals.

Ruling on the renewed bail application, the Court presided over by Mr Justice E. Ayebi maintained its earlier ruling of declining bail to the accused persons.

The Court noted that there could only be an unreasonable delay if the trial had not commenced.

The case of the Prosecution was that on November 24, 2005, a team of detectives from the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), acting upon a tip-off, proceeded to house number 348 at Mepasem, near East Legon in Accra, where they met Moises. Moises was arrested and he led the Police to his upper house, where three bottles of ammonium used to turn cocaine into crack; a machine used in compressing the cocaine; 13 pieces of gloves and quantity of plastic wrappers were found.

The Prosecution said brown cellulose tapes; a filtering bottle used in filtering and sniffing cocaine; an exercise book used in recording the names of people, who had purchased and had been supplied with the drugs and two Nokia phones were also found.

The Prosecution said the Police thereafter peeped into a room and found cartons but Moises refused to surrender the keys to the Police. The Police, she said, therefore, broke into the room and found cocaine that had been compressed.

The Prosecution said Moises further confessed that it was one Shamo who invited him to Ghana and voluntarily showed the Police where the rest of the 588 kilograms of cocaine was.

The Prosecution said Moises pleaded with the Police to allow him to call the said Shamo but when the Police called Shamo, Castillo, the second accused person, was the one who surfaced. 27 July 06