Victim Of Cocaine,Love Or Greed?

Sarpong, Justice

The scourge of cocaine culture left behind many victims and one such story needs to be shared in this forum so that good People don't fall prey to its financial temptations. Folks, this is not fiction and the event happened in the Dallas, Fort Worth Metroplex. To protect the privacy of the People involved, names, dates and the occupations of those mentioned might have been changed. The story of Eric Amoateng of the NPP fame and Benneh, the NDC drug dealer are well known but that of Albert and Lucy Gyan is unknown.

Albert Gyan came to United States in the early seventies, went to College and secured a Professional job which brought him a lot of financial rewards. He brought his wife from Ghana to USA in 1978 and the wife became a Nurse .

Albert, after a long stint at the corporate world and failing to move on the corporate ladder decided to call it quit and drive a Taxi. He was comfortable with his decision, though the wife was not too enthused. She cannot now brag to her friends that, her husband is Corporate Executive anymore, but to Albert, that was a small price to pay in order to spend some time with his two young daughters which has not been possible due to the twelve hours working days and corporate luncheaons on some weekends. Albert reasoned that, he has already put up a two storey building at Nkawkaw, his hometown and building another one at East Legon, a neighborhood in Accra which became fashionable and in vogue among USA 'Burgers'. He is now going to take it easy in life, drive a taxi at his own leisure and wait for his corporate pension to kick in which he can take in lump sum as early as age 55 and then head home and live a comfortable life.

As I said before, his wife, Lucy was not too enthused because Lucy is the industrious type who wants it all. Their house in a Tony neighborhood in Dallas would be paid for in ten years, life is not all about money and material things, Albert thought, but the wife had a different aspect to life than Albert. Lucy wanted Albert to stay in the corporate world regardless of the long hours and the toll it was taking on his health. The moment Albert decided he can't take it anymore in the corporate world and decided to drive a Taxi for a living, Lucy atitude and respect for her husband changed negatively. She started comparing Albert to some of their friends and how one particular family friend, Joseph and Felicia Inkoom are doing so well with their own house in the same neighborhood as Albert and Lucy and three rental properties in Grand Prairie and Arlington. Joseph also has a booming business in Ghana, a small twenty room hotel in Accra, Lucy want it all.

This was in the mid nineties when cocaine business was booming and not knowing to Lucy, Joseph was involved, hence his unexplained riches. One day, Felicia as a friend confided in Lucy that, his husband Joseph and his Mexican friend Andres Campo were partners in dealing cocaine and their carving and African goods store was just a front and how Albert can easily make one hundred grand(ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND) dollars on every trip to Ghana to bring cocaine cocealed in Joseph carving imports.

Lucy was all for this so he started treating Albert very nicely as a prelude to recruiting him for Joseph and his Mexican drug partner. When Lucy told Albert about this, his answer was firm and respectable, "NO WAY HOSEA". Albert told Luzy that, it is against his moral upbringing to involve himself in such a criminal endevour and they don't need the money anyway since their bills are being paid without any problems through Joseph savings and his part time Taxi job. Lucy from here on was like a woman scorned and denied the husband the benefits of marriage, SEX AND CONVERSATION. After a few months of Albert holding on to his morals and his marriage tettering on divorce, he caved in to Lucy's manipulations. Albert went to Ghana to bring the 'GOODS' concealed in wood carvings. Due to logistices in concealing the coke in the carvings, Albert postponed his return trip to USA two times and this attracted the prying eyes of the USA customs.

Albert was nabbed at DFW Airport after customs discovered cocaine in his belongings. After a month's trial, Albert who had designs of entering politics when he finally settle in Ghana was found guilty and sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment and deportation after serving his sentence since he was only holdding a 'Green Card. The wife who caused Alberts downfall never paid Albert any visit for the duration of his sentence and within the first two years of Alberts incarceration, the wife divorced him by letting her parents in Ghana sending back Alberts marriage drinks back to his parents as a custom demands among their Akan marriage dictates.

Albert served his sentence a lonely man without setting eyes on his wife or daughters for the rest of his life. He was paroled early and deported to Ghana. In Ghana, Albert became something of a relic, standing at the balcony of his house in Ghana everyday for almost twelve hours a day. He was never of himself and refused to seek Psychiatrist help despite being disgnosed of having Psychological problems. He started talking to himself and some unseen people he alone could see. Within two years after arriving in Ghana, Albert Gyan died a lonely and sad man.

Some People might be questioning my motive of writing this article and I only did so after a chance meeting of Alberts two daughters at Houston Mall. His Daughters have grown into beautiful well educated women making their mark in life without the benefit of a father who cared and loved them. For any person thinking of making money through drug dealing, my advice is stay away from drugs because it's better to be a poor man with respect than to have money and living in fear for the rest of your life.

Justice Sarpong

Houston, Texas.