Sima says he is innocent of cocaine charges

Accra, July 8, GNA - Ibrahim Sima, Chief Executive Officer of Exopa Modelling Agency on Thursday told an Accra Fast Track High Court that he admitted owning the tubers of yam stuffed with cocaine to avoid being manhandled by security personnel.

Sima said his fear heightened when security personnel escorting him and slapped his watchman for

delaying in opening the gate to his house. He said he could not march up to the stature of the security personn el who were armed. Sima was opening his defence in a drug related case. He has been charged with attempting to export narcotic drugs and possessing narcotic drugs

without authority. Sima had denied the charges and on remand. Led in evidence by Mr James Agalga, Sima told the court that he did not understand the charges

preferred against him. On the implements, a scraper, bread knife and glue found in his hous e, the accused claimed he

admitted using them under duress. He explained that the glue was used to mend his belts and shoes addi ng "there is no way the glue

could be used on the tubers of yam". Sima, a Ghanaian and a Togolese and now a German, said he used the scraper to repair his faulty

windows at home. On September 7, 2009, accused was travelling to Germany and therefor e checked in at about 16

hours and went back to his office. He said when he left his office, he visited a caf=E9 before entering the airport to board his flight

scheduled at 23 hours. Before entering Gate Two at the Kotoka International Airport, accuse d said he was invited by two

security personnel to identify his bag among two others. Identifying the bag in court, Sima said "today is the second time I am touching the bag". When asked how he came by the tubers of yam, Sima said he bought eig ht tubers of yam for GH¢

12 on the Graphic Road, in Accra, but never thought of examining them aft er the purchase. Sima said he locked his bag with a combination of numbers but after identifying the bag, he saw

that the zip had been broken. He said Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) officials told him that they

suspected the bag to be

containing drugs. When the bag was opened, Sima said he was surprised to realise the y ams were stuffed with drugs. "I was surprised to see the substance when the yams were cut open an d did not know what to

say," he said. "I did not talk to anyone because I wanted to only speak to my lawye r. But the arresting officers

told me that they would use force on me if I failed to talk. They did not

tell me that they were going

to use that against me in court," he added. Sima said he did not remember seeing NACOB officials carrying out a field test on the alleged

substances found in the tubers of yam. He said he gave two statements in respect of the case to the Police adding the first one was when

he was arrested and when the report by Ghana Standards Board was ready. Prosecution's case was that the accused allegedly concealed five kilogram's of drugs suspected to

be cocaine in some tubers of yam while travelling to Frankfurt, Germany, on September 7, last year. While going through departure formalities, officials of NACOB opened

his luggage and found the

tubers of yam sliced and joined. When the yams were sliced, the drugs were found concealed in them. The prosecution said Sima claimed ownership of the drug claiming he was asked to give it to

someone in Germany for a fee of 3,200 dollars. The case has been adjourned to July 12. 8b