Last Updated- Dec 25, 2009 9:30 - - 0 Comments


Importer acquitted and discharged over drug related charges

Augustina Abu the importer in the centre of the 61 parcels of cocaine seized at the Tema Port from a 40-foot container in May this year, was on Wednesday acquitted and discharged by an Accra Fast Track High Court.

The drugs weighing 71.45 kilogramms is estimated at 1.9 million dollars.

Handing down her acquittal, Mr. Justice Marful Sau, an Appeal Court Judge noted that prosecution could not provide evidence to warrant conviction.

“Prosecution has woefully failed to establish the two charges preferred against her,” the court declared.

Augustina who shed tears of joy was held for engaging in criminal conspiracy with others beyond the court’s jurisdiction and importing narcotic drugs without licence from the Minister of Health.

She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Earlier, she was held with five others; Yaw Attah Nkansah, Clearing Agent, Alfred Amedzi, Managing Director, Kennedy Osei and Simon Bede, all Directors of Sedco Agency and Francis Addo, a driver for allegedly engaging in criminal conspiracy.

The case was initially put before Mr. Justice C.J. Honyenuga, an Appeal Court Judge who declined them bail.

Prosecution, however, after transferring the case to Mr. Justice Marful Sau, an Appeal Court Judge, discharged them leaving Augustina.

The court ordered that proceeds from the sale of the chewing gum paid into government’s chest should be given to Augustina while two cartons of chewing gum should be returned to her.

It said “the evidence against the accused person is very doubtful and would be unsafe for me to convict the accused on the charges leveled against her”.

On the charges of conspiracy, the court contended that one person cannot conspire with herself to commit a crime.

According to the court two or more people could agree to commit crime.

Prosecution was unable to disclose the accomplices Augustina allegedly acted or agree with to commit the offence.

It described the evidence of the prosecution as “being speculative and had no judicial value.”

The court noted that security locks of the container had been tampered with.

“Accused was not the one who opened that container and she could not have exercised control over the container shipped from Ecuador, through Panama and Spain to Ghana,” the court said.

It noted that although the said container had three security seals one of them was found in a carrier bag containing the cocaine and could not answer questions as to who could have opened the container while it was on the high seas.

The court noted that “no one would have thrown into a container “an expensive value” when he or she knows that the importer did not have the exclusive right to open the said container.

“This piece of evidence is circumstantial and the court could not convict on that unless the inferences drawn established the guilt of the accused person.”

On the charge of importing narcotic drugs namely cocaine into the country without licence from the Minister of Health, the court established that accused never traveled to Ecuador to arrange for the shipment of her goods to Ghana.

It upheld the defence of the accused which disclosed that accused for the past 25 years in business transaction had never traveled to Ecuador to purchase goods.

According to the court, she transacted her business on the internet after which she effected payment through Barclays Bank, Makola branch.

The court contended that prosecution failed to establish the essential ingredient of the offence that accused owned the goods and facilitated the shipment of prohibited drugs among them to Ghana.

“There is no direct evidence as to how the two bags got into the container,” it said.

The prosecution was unable to provide evidence on the security records of Confetiga, the manufacturer of the chewing gum, and could have extended their investigations to Ecuador.

Mr. Addo Atuah, lead defence counsel described the judgment as brilliant.

The family members of Augustine shed tears of joy amidst shouts of  “Allahu Akbar” or ‘God is Great’ and poured talcum powder on her.

The facts of the case are that on May 15 this year, M/V Maersk Nolanville docked at Tema Port with containers from Ecuador, Panama and Spain.

The prosecution said among the containers was one with number MSAU0118160 manifested to contain 1,880 cartons of chewing gum, imported by Augustina Abu Enterprise.

It said personnel from the Joint Port Control Unit (JPCU) made up of personnel from the Narcotics Control Board; Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS); Bureau of National Investigations (BNI); Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Police tagged the said container, which meant that the container could only be opened by JPCU personnel.

At about 1530 hours on May 19, the container was scanned and the image disclosed that it had some other objects in addition to its official cargo.

During a thorough examination, two bags containing a total of 61 parcels of whitish substances suspected to be cocaine were found among the cartons of chewing gum.

A test of the substance indicated that it was cocaine, but upon court orders it was destroyed on November 30, this year.

Source: GNA

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