Court orders destruction of cocaine

Thursday, May 27, 2010 (Page 51)

THE Accra Fast Track High Court yesterday ordered the destruction of the 4.9 kilogrammes of cocaine found on the Chief Executive of the Exopa Modelling Agency, Ibrahim Sima.
It ordered that the destruction of the drug, which the prosecutor described as “75 per cent pure”, should be carried out in the presence of the Registrar of the Fast Track High Court, the prosecution, officials from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) and the police.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Quist, gave the order after a Chief State Attorney, Mr George Ofori, had prayed the court to order the destruction of the narcotic drug after it had been tendered in evidence by an investigator in the case.
Based on another request by counsel for the accused person, Mr James Agalga, the court further ordered that a reasonable amount of the drug must be kept to enable Mr Agalga to cross-examine the prosecution witness on it.
It further ordered that the personal effects of the accused person which had earlier been tendered in evidence must be returned to him.
Sima, 39, was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport on September 7, 2009 after security officials had found three tubers of yam containing cocaine in his baggage while he was going through departure formalities for a trip to Germany.
He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of possessing narcotic drugs and attempting to export narcotic drugs without lawful authority and is currently in prison custody.
Earlier, an investigator at the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Samuel Anabah, had tendered in evidence a report from the GSB, which conducted an analysis on the substance found in three tubers of yam concealed in Sima’s luggage.
Mr Anabah, who said the substance tested positive for cocaine and gave its weight as 4,943 grammes, also tendered the scraper which was used to scoop the three tubers of yam before they were stuffed with the cocaine.
He also tendered in evidence the super glue which was used to seal the yams after they had been stuffed.
Twenty two slices of scooped yam which were recovered from Sima’s residence were also tendered in evidence, while his airline ticket, his German passport and a letter from the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) which highlighted the travelling history of the accused person were also tendered in evidence.
A letter from the Passport Office, which indicated that the accused person had once wielded a Ghanaian passport, was also tendered in evidence by Mr Anabah, who was giving his evidence-in-chief.
Mr Anabah said he had been part of the team that entered Sima’s house after his arrest and indicated that Sima had stated during interrogation that he needed money to pay off the models he had hired to perform a fashion show he had been contracted to perform.
According to the witness, Sima told him that the sponsors of the show had promised to pay him $100,000 but the company ended up paying him a paltry sum of GH¢2,000, thereby making it impossible for him to pay off the models he had hired for the show.
Mr Anabah said Sima further informed him that he (Sima) had bought the yams on the Graphic Road but he could not identify the person who had sold them to him when investigators led him to that part of town.
During cross-examination from counsel for the accused person, Mr Anabah denied an assertion by counsel that Mr Kwame Akuffo, who was then legal counsel for Sima, had been hounded out of the offices of NACOB while Sima was being interrogated.
Hearing continues on June 3, 2010.