Two Venezuelans in cocaine case jailed

Accra, Nov. 13, GNA - An Accra Fast Track High Court on Tuesday handed jail terms on two Venezuelans connected to the 588 kilogrammes of cocaine seized from a house at Mepeasem, East Legon, Accra. This was after the court found them guilty on the various charged levelled against them.

Joel Meija Duarte Moises, a 35-year-old machine operator was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in hard labour and Italio Gervasio Rosero a.k.a. Italio Cabeza Castillo, 38, a businessman was sentenced to 20 years. Sentences are to take effect from the day of their arrest, November 24,2005.

They were being held for conspiracy to commit crime, importing 588 kilograms of narcotic drugs without lawful authority and possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority.

They earlier on pleaded not guilty.

The third Venezuelan, Vasquez Gerado Duarte David, a.k.a. Bude or Shamo and boyfriend of Miss Grace Asibi is at large whom the court described at the mastermind was sentenced to 25 years in absentia. He was found guilty on the same charges leveled his accomplices.

The court in April this year after admitting the 12 boxes of cocaine in evidence were destroyed them at the Independence Square.

The court further ordered that the convicts, after serving their respective sentences should be deported to their home country. Rosero's passport, which was missing during his arrest but resurfaced during the trial should be handed over to him after serving his sentence. Handing down the sentences the court, presided over by Mr Justice E.K Ayebi said the country have been saddled with news on drugs, noting that the nation, was becoming a distribution point.

It ordered the destruction of the exhibit such as gloves, brown cellotape and a machine used in compressing or cracking cocaine, among others, in the presence of the court's registry and security personnel. Two mobile phones also retrieved from the convicts at the Mepasem house, should be confiscated to the state.

Praying for mitigation, Mr. Kwablah Senanu, defence counsel said the accused were family men with children between the ages of four and 13 years.

According to Mr Senanu, Moises had been threatened with divorce and prayed the court to temper justice with mercy. Prosecuting Ms. Gertrude Aikins, acting Director for Public Prosecution prayed the court to take into consideration the behaviour of the accused persons.

She further drew the attention of the court to the drug menace in the country and charges levelled against the accused persons. The court described Vasques as a mastermind in the drugs business and owner of the drugs.

It further described Moises as the one who packaged the drugs because he had in possession and controlled the drugs. According to the court, all the items used for processing the drugs were found in Moises's bedroom saying that Moises, during his arrest demonstrated to the police how the machine was used. It further noted that Moises also failed to tell police where keys of two rooms containing the drugs were.

"It was after the Police had searched his room that they came across a bunch of keys which incidentally opened the said room which lead to the discovery of more boxes of cocaine and Moises directed the police not to mix the drugs with water," the court said.

The court said since Ghana did not produce the coca plant, the three accused persons managed to conspire and import the substances into the country.

The court was of the view that Moises was not a guest in the Mepeasem house but tenant who rented the place at a cost of 1,000 US dollars a month and therefore not a witness of truth and not worthy of the truth.

The court also found out that Moises has been in the country successfully learning the Twi language and he had books which indicated the sales and purchase of the drugs in the Spanish language.

According to the court it was Grace Asibe who rented the place out to him, saying that, "he stated during his arrest that that was his first time in the country but has been in the country seven times and departed only twice".

The court said, it found Moises defence that he only came into the country to buy gold but later diamond, unacceptable.

In the case of Castillo, the court noted he joined the business not long ago and he was never a tourist because he did not visit any tourist attraction site in the country.

The two convicts have known themselves and were communicating on cell phones since their cell numbers were found on each other phones. The two meeting is not coincidental or accidental but had known themselves way back in Venezuela.

The court also dismissed Castillo's defence that he was lodging in a hotel at Achimota but could not recall its name.

"How can someone staying in a hotel in Achimota, walk to East Legon without any money on him,?" the court quizzed.

The court said prosecution had been able to proof beyond reasonable doubt that the accused persons really are guilty of the offences charged with.

During the two-year trial, prosecution called nine witnesses to make its case while defence called none before the court.

The case of the prosecution is that on November 24, 2005, a team of detectives from the Headquarters of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID), acting upon a tip-off that there was cocaine in House Number 348 at Mepeasem at East Legon in Accra, went to the house where they met Moises.

Joel was arrested and he led the Police to his upper room where three bottles of ammonium used to turn cocaine into crack, a machine used in compressing the cocaine, 13 pieces of gloves and a 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 those that had been supplied with the drugs and two cell phones were also found. The Police on arresting Moises, asked him to call his brother to come to the house. While speaking in Spanish, Superintendent of Police Edward Tabiri, who led the team took away the phone and asked the receiver of the phone to come to the house. Castillo emerged from the streets and on entering the house, found the Police who arrested him.