Koreans Behind Missing Cocaine

Pieces of information put together by The Statesman Crime Desk show that parcels of cocaine on board the MV Benjamin were likely to have gone missing between Tuesday April 25 and Thursday April 27, when the Navy, led by Capt Issa Yakubu, secured the vessel at the Tema Port for the 40-man operation that found a single parcel containing 30 kilogrammes of a substance believed to be cocaine. But, this was days after the British intelligence establishment had informed Ghana's Narcotics Control Board about the vessel on the Atlantic heading towards West Africa.Also, the depth of investigation leads available to Benjamin Ndego and the other investigators suggest that there was probably no need to set up the Georgina Wood Committee to investigate whether indeed there were 78 parcels on board and who might have taken them.

The leads available to investigators at the time pointed to an elaborate complicity of some Koreans allegedly with links to the Koreana Hotel. Arhin, the second officer on the vessel, who is now facing trial, has told investigators that he was employed by a Korean called Killer. Killer, who is said to have been connected to the ownership of the Koreana Hotel is alleged to have been the person, along with Darkeh (alias Sheriff), who fueled the vessel.

Dawson, who is also now in police custody, is alleged to have admitted to registering the vessel, MV Benjamin, but as the Ghanaian representative for some Tema-based Koreans. The Captain and Chief Engineer of the vessel are suspected to have left the vessel after parcels, believed to contain cocaine were off-loaded by two canoes between Takoradi and Tema.The Chief Engineer is another Korean, resident at the Petroleum area of Tema.

Some of the clear leads, including the name of Dawson, the Ghanaian whose company Dashiment Ltd, near the Valco smelting plant, registered the MV Benjamin, Sheriff, the alleged chartterer of the vessel, who runs his business from a container at Community 3, Tema, and Killer, were all either interrogated and released or not pursued at all. Other suspects mentioned but not under arrest are Bae and Mr Pak. Bae allegedly gave money to Mr Pak to pay the crew.

The decision to send Benjamin Ndego and his boss Col Isaac Akuoko home over 5kg from the parcel of 30kg retrieved from the vessel, seems to have derailed the investigation. But, why this should be the case when information and leads gathered could have been simply passed on, smacks of a serious failing in the system at NACOB. What is very clear is that most of the very things that the Georgina Wood Committee has been tasked to do could have probably been uncovered by the investigation. Yet, the mere setting up of the committee has been construed by analysts as an indication of Government's suspicion of the probable complicity of officers at the heart of the investigation.

What is also becoming clear is that the charge sheet for Tagor and co may be fundamentally flawed since information reaching The Statesman is that the number 78, which has been commonly referred to as the number of cocaine parcels on board the vessel, with 77 (2,310kg) going missing was guesswork by Mr Ndego, after taking statements from Arhin and the other crew members in custody. The Statesman has been reliably informed that members of the committee have questioned in camera the five crew members, including two Orientals, who are facing drugs charges.

However, the confusion caused by the setting up of the committee at the time it did can be seen in the concurrent separate charges of Tagor and the other four. Darkeh (Sherrif) and Dawson may also face separate charges. The Ghanaian owner of Koreana Hotel is also facing separate charges. The bizarre nature of events was vividly displayed when after appearing before the committee, Tagor and others were arrested and after being charged brought back to the committee with the expectation that they would assist it in its enquiries. They refused.

Darkeh, who lives at Ada, allegedly had his own vessel, Check 1, earlier sinking off the coast of Guinea. Our intelligence sources believe the MV Benjamin had its name changed to Adede II when it set out to receive parcels of cocaine on the high seas from another vessel from South America. It is suspected the high-sea delivery took place near Guinea.

When the Air Force apparently spotted the vessel at around 2pm on Wednesday April 26 around the coast of James Town, it fitted the description of the aerial photographs provided by the British intelligence. But by the time Capt Yakubu’s war ship intercepted the vessel at Tema the next day, it had reverted to its original name, MV Benjamin. When the British and American intelligence first passed on the information to their Ghanaian counterparts, the vessel in question was Adede II. This was Friday, April 21.

What is missing from the leads which emerged from the arrest of the five crew members on the vessel are the names of any of the 'infamous' five (Kwabena Amaning, alias Tagor (1st accused), Alhaji Abass Issah (2nd accused), Kwabena Acheampong ( 3rd accused), Victor Kisseh, alias Yaw Billa (4th accused), and Kwadwo Ababio - (5th accused). They were arrested about two weeks ago when they were testifying before the Justice Georgina Woode Committee that is investigating the loss of large amounts of cocaine from an East Legon residence.

The charterer, who is now behind bars, allegedly claimed that MV Benjamin was in distress and that he was chartering the boat to go and fix it in Guinea.

Last week, an Accra Circuit Court adjourned to September 6, 2006 to make a decision on whether to grant bail to Prince Tsibu Darko, who is said to own three fishing vessels and the Koreana Hotel at Community 12, Tema. He is also the Managing Director of PT Ventures. He is facing charges for undertaking businesses relating to the promotion of a narcotic drug, cocaine. But, unlike Tagor and the other four accused, Prince Darko’s charges are not expressly linked to the alleged 78 parcels.