Sima says he is innocent of cocaine charges
Ibrahim Sima, Chief Executive Officer of Exopa Modelling Agency on Thursday told an Accra Fast Track High Court that he admitted owning the tubers of yam stuffed with cocaine to avoid being manhandled by security personnel.
Sima said his fear heightened when security personnel escorting him and slapped his watchman for delaying in opening the gate to his house.
He said he could not march up to the stature of the security personnel who were armed.
Sima was opening his defence in a drug related case.
He has been charged with attempting to export narcotic drugs and possessing narcotic drugs without authority.
Sima had denied the charges and on remand.
Led in evidence by Mr James Agalga, Sima told the court that he did not understand the charges preferred against him.
On the implements, a scraper, bread knife and glue found in his house, the accused claimed he admitted using them under duress.
He explained that the glue was used to mend his belts and shoes adding “there is no way the glue could be used on the tubers of yam”.
Sima, a Ghanaian and a Togolese and now a German, said he used the scraper to repair his faulty windows at home.
On September 7, 2009, accused was travelling to Germany and therefore checked in at about 16 hours and went back to his office.
He said when he left his office, he visited a café before entering the airport to board his flight scheduled at 23 hours.
Before entering Gate Two at the Kotoka International Airport, accused said he was invited by two security personnel to identify his bag among two others.
Identifying the bag in court, Sima said “today is the second time I am touching the bag”.
When asked how he came by the tubers of yam, Sima said he bought eight tubers of yam for GH¢12 on the Graphic Road, in Accra, but never thought of examining them after the purchase.
Sima said he locked his bag with a combination of numbers but after identifying the bag, he saw that the zip had been broken.
He said Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) officials told him that they suspected the bag to be containing drugs.
When the bag was opened, Sima said he was surprised to realise the yams were stuffed with drugs.
“I was surprised to see the substance when the yams were cut open and did not know what to say,” he said.
“I did not talk to anyone because I wanted to only speak to my lawyer. But the arresting officers told me that they would use force on me if I failed to talk. They did not tell me that they were going to use that against me in court,” he added.
Sima said he did not remember seeing NACOB officials carrying out a field test on the alleged substances found in the tubers of yam.
He said he gave two statements in respect of the case to the Police adding the first one was when he was arrested and when the report by Ghana Standards Board was ready.
Prosecution’s case was that the accused allegedly concealed five kilogram’s of drugs suspected to be cocaine in some tubers of yam while travelling to Frankfurt, Germany, on September 7, last year.
While going through departure formalities, officials of NACOB opened his luggage and found the tubers of yam sliced and joined.
When the yams were sliced, the drugs were found concealed in them.
The prosecution said Sima claimed ownership of the drug claiming he was asked to give it to someone in Germany for a fee of 3,200 dollars.
The case has been adjourned to July 12.
Source: GNA