Student remanded for possessing heroin

June 24, 2011 (Page 3 Lead)

A student who was arrested for allegedly possessing 416 grammes of heroin was yesterday remanded in custody by the Accra Circuit Court.
Frimpong Ntim has pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempting to export a narcotic drug without licence and possession of a narcotic drug without lawful authority.
The court, presided over by Mr Justice C.A. Wilson, a High Court judge with additional responsibility as a Circuit Court judge, warned that the court would proceed to hear the case if the lawyer for the accused person did not appear on the next adjourned date.
Counsel was absent when the matter was called, prompting the trial judge to adjourn the case to July 7, 2011.
Frimpong, who reportedly hid 36 pellets of heroin in his baggage and swallowed four pellets, was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) around 8:30 p.m. on December 20, 2010.
The facts of the case are that the accused person arrived at the KIA on December 20, 2010 to board a United Airlines flight to Washington, DC, USA.
While he was undergoing departure formalities, officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) suspected him of carrying narcotic drugs and, therefore, picked him up for questioning.
A search in his baggage, according to the prosecution, revealed 36 pellets of a brownish substance suspected to be heroin.
Frimpong was said to have confessed to swallowing four pellets of the drug. He was later sent to the NACOB Headquarters where he expelled the four pellets.
According to the prosecution, the accused person admitted in his caution statement that someone called Sulley of Accra Newtown had given him the heroin to be delivered to somebody in Washington, DC, for a fee of $6,000.
A report from the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) confirmed that the substance found on Frimpong was heroin, with a net weight of 416 grammes.