Vasquez left Ghana in Nov. 2005 - Immigration

Accra, Aug. 10, GNA -- Suspected fugitive drug baron, Vasquez Geraldo Duarte David left Ghana through the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) on November 10 2005 and has since not been known to have returned, records at the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) indicate.

Mr Louis Francis Aikins, Assistant Director of Immigration in Charge of Management Information Systems, told the Justice Georgina Woode Committee investigating an alleged bribery of Police officials with 200,000 dollars following the seizure of 588 kilograms of cocaine at East Legon in Accra that there was no clear pattern of the travel records of Vasquez.

Mr Aikins said Vasquez first arrived in the country through the KIA on January 18 2004 but there was no record of his departure at the KIA. However, he arrived again through the KIA on January 2, 2005 and departed on February 23 2005. There is no record of his arrival at KIA but there is one on his departure from the Airport on November 10 2005. Mr Aikins said there were four major and 44 minor entry points, including a number of unapproved routes.

Asked by Mr James Abiaduka, Counsel for Grace Asibi, the girlfriend of Vasquez and a key witness in the East Legon drug case, whether there was an unapproved route at Prampram in the Greater Accra Region, he replied in the negative.

Under cross-examination by Superintendent Edward Tabiri, Mr Aikins said he never knew Supt. Tabiri in person and had never received any request from him to tamper with records on the travel regime of Vasquez and one Joel, a suspect in the cocaine case.

Mr Aikins answered in the affirmative to a question from Mr Yaw Baah, Member of Parliament of Kumawu and a Committee Member, that it was possible someone could enter into the country and leave unnoticed. He said under no condition could data on arrival or departures in the system be tampered with unless one wanted to crash the system.

"It is absolutely impossible unless one wants to crash the system. You can't pick out and delete records kept in the system," Mr Aikins said.

Mr Frederick Coleman, Former Assistant Director in Charge of Immigration at the KIA, said it was possible for unauthorised persons to use the routes of VIPS to depart.

He said he had raised concerns on the unapproved use of the VIP routes and made recommendations to the higher authorities regarding how people could use the place.

Speaking through her Lawyer Ms Asibi said she was in no position to tell the Committee what entry routes Vasquez used.