Court confiscates MV Atiyah

Three Guyanese who were accused of importing 414 slabs of cocaine valued at 60 million dollars were on Thursday sentenced a total jail term of 34 years by an Accra Fast Track High Court.

The court presided over by Mr Justice C.J. Hoenyenugah, an Appeal Court Judge, sitting as an additional High Court judge after a nine- month trial found them guilty on the charges of conspiracy to import narcotic drugs, importation and possessing narcotic drug without lawful authority.

The three: Percival Junior Curt, a 53 year- old Engineer, Samuel Monty a 43- year- old carpenter and a cook on board the vessel MV Atiyah were sentenced to 12 years imprisonment each on each of the three counts.

Singh Primchard a 47- year- old seaman was however sentenced to 10 years imprisonment on each of the three counts.

Sentences are to run concurrently.

The court ordered that the vessel that is MV Atiyah which was used in carting the drugs from Guyana to Ghana should be confiscated to the state.

According to the court the vessel should be given to the Western Naval Command to be used for their operations.

It further ordered that one slap of cocaine which was left in the custody of the Court’s Registry should be kept there until the time of an appeal was exhausted.

The court ordered that a marine certificate taken away by the Police from Curt should be given to him while the rest of the convicts’ passports be handed over to them.

In January this year, two others, Miller Ronald O’Neil, a Guyanese and Captain of the Guyanese ship, was sentenced to 20 years while Seth Grant, a Ghanaian, was sentenced to 15 years after confessing to committing the crime.

The substances weighing 400,000 grammes were also destroyed based on the orders of the court in January this year.

Handing down the sentences the court said it into consideration, the number of months the convicts had been in incarceration, the weight and street value of the drugs, the rampant nature of the offence as well as the gravity.

The court rejected the defence by the convicts during the trial, pointing out they had knowledge of the drugs, conspired and possessed the substances on board the vessel

Defence counsels put in plea of mitigation on behalf of the convicts.

According to the lawyers the convicts persons were first offenders and were married who also found themselves in a foreign land which was far away from their homes. According to them their clients were lured into the drug enterprise.

They further prayed the court to give them the minimum sentences.

Mr Asiamah Sampong, a Principal State Attorney during the trial produced five witnesses to make their case against the convicts. Based on the law, Mr Sampong also prayed the court to confiscate the vessel which was used in carting substances.

Earlier, Mr Sampong said in the third week of November last year, the Narcotics Control Board received information concerning the suspicious movement of a vessel by name Atiyah Ex-Alisam, with registration number 000471, which was heading towards Ghana loaded with illicit drugs.

According to the information, the vessel was from British Guyana -George Town.

Prosecution said security agencies including the Ghana Navy, the Police, National Security and Ghana Marine were, therefore, alerted.

Mr Sampong said on November 19, the security agencies, in collaboration with Western Naval Base in Takoradi, intercepted the vessel on Ghana’s waters.

A search on the vessel revealed 21 fertilizer sacks smeared with engine oil containing 414 slabs of compressed substances.

A field test conducted showed that the substance was cocaine.

Prosecution said ONeil, the captain, said the drugs were to be delivered in Ghana but they could not mention the name of the recipient adding that he had the contact of the fellow.

According to ONeil, the drugs were to be delivered on the high seas for a fee of 50,000 dollars while the rest of the crew was to take various sums of monies.