General News of 2026-11-05
MV Benjamin Cocaine Saga: Agalga recounts arrest of innocent people after disappearance of 76 parcels
Majority Leader James Agalga has recounted how he secured the acquittal of a ship mechanic who was arrested in connection with the disappearance of 77 parcels of cocaine from a vessel, the MV Benjamin.
Speaking at the Leaders Media Briefing on November 3, 2026, Agalga, who was a lawyer for the accused at the time, said innocent people were arrested, including his client, despite having no connection to the alleged cocaine importation.
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He explained that the man's only involvement with the vessel was repairing it, but he was among those arrested after 76 of the 77 parcels went missing.
Recounting the case, Agalga said foreign security and intelligence agencies had worked with their Ghanaian counterparts and provided information about the vessel carrying the cocaine, including its coordinates.
“But again, let me refresh your memories, and I can never forget that, because I was a counsel in one of those cases, the 77 parcels of cocaine that went missing. In fact, foreign security and intelligence agencies were in close collaboration with Ghanaian security agencies about the potential delivery of 77 parcels of cocaine in this country.
“The coordinates of the ship that was carrying the cocaine, everything was given out, but in the full glare of our security apparatus, 76 parcels disappeared at the time. Only one parcel was recovered from the infamous MV Benjamin,” he said.
Agalga said that even though arrests were wrongly made, the court found no reason to put them, including his client, on trial after the prosecution failed to establish a case against him.
He said the former Chief Justice, Justice Anin, who was then a High Court judge, acquitted and discharged the ship mechanic at the submission of no case stage.
“What happened thereafter? Innocent souls were rounded up. One of them happened to be my client. I got him acquitted. You know why: they went after people who had no connection whatsoever with the importation of the 77 parcels because my client's only crime at the time was that he had repaired the ship,” he recounted.
“He was a ship mechanic, a ship engineer. So the court had no choice. In fact, the former Chief Justice, Justice Anin, he was a High Court judge at the time. He had no difficulty acquitting and discharging my client at the submission of no case stage,” he added.
About the case:
On April 26, 2006, a vessel, the MV Benjamin, reportedly carrying about 77 parcels of cocaine, with each parcel weighing 30 kilogrammes, docked at Kpone/Tema and discharged the parcels.
The parcels were offloaded into a waiting vehicle, which then drove away.
The disappearance of the cocaine led to the setting up of the Justice Georgina Wood Committee and the subsequent trial of persons alleged to have played various roles in the importation.
In July 2008, the Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Justice Anin Yeboah, now a Supreme Court judge, convicted and sentenced Joseph Kojo Dawson, the owner of the MV Benjamin and Managing Director of Dashment Company Limited; Isaac Arhin, a sailor; Phillip Bruce Arhin, a mechanic; Cui Xian Li, the vessel engineer; and Luo Yui Xing, a sailor, all crew members of the MV Benjamin, to 25 years' imprisonment each with hard labour.
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Bruce Arhin, however, died about three weeks after his conviction.
A sixth accused person, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean, was, on October 16, 2007, acquitted and discharged by the court, which had held, during a ruling on a submission of ‘no case’, that the prosecution had failed to prove a case against him.
MAG/BAI
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