Tagor, Abass before Fast Track High Court

Accra, Nov. 27, GNA - Two out of four persons who were arrested after testifying at the Georgina Wood Committee were on Monday remanded into police custody by an Accra Fast Track High Court.

Kwabena Amaning, aka Tagor and Alhaji Issah Abass, who are alleged self-confessed drug barons, are jointly charged for conspiracy. Amaning has additionally been charged for carrying out prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs, buying and supplying of narcotic drugs while Abass is also being held for carrying out prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs and supplying narcotic drugs. They pleaded not guilty and are expected to reappear on December 5.

Victor Kisseh, alias Yaw Billa and Kwabena Acheampong who were standing trial with Tagor and Abass were not in court.

However, a source close to the Attorney-General's office said Kisseh and Acheampong were in a different group. The source said dockets were being built and as and when they were completed, they would be arraigned.

Earlier, the court refused them bail after their counsels had argued for bail.

Nana Asante Bediatu, who represented Amaning, prayed the court to admit his client to bail as he had been incarcerated for four months. According to him, his client had a fixed place of abode and had been cooperating with the police since his arrest.

=93There is no way my client would interfere with investigations; he would be in court as he himself would want to be cleared by the court,=94 he added.

Mr Safo Buabeng, who represented Abass, associated himself with Nana Bediatu's application, adding that the court under the law had the power to grant bail to his client.

Ms Gertrude Aikins, Chief State Attorney, vehemently opposed the bail application, saying the accused persons would interfere with ongoing investigations as well as witness who would testify in the case. She recalled a case in which an accused, who was granted bail in an extortion case absconded and was threatening potential witnesses. The court in its view noted that there had not been any unreasonable delay by the prosecution, although it was aware of proceeding at the Circuit Court level.

It said since the prosecution had provided detailed facts and proceeded by preferring charges against the accused, it meant that they had clear intentions to prosecute.

=93Furthermore, the new proviso of Act 714 forbids the court from granting bail in cases of murder and narcotics,=94 the court said. The case of the prosecution is that the accused are self-confessed drug barons who from 2004 have been actively been engaged in activities of promoting and establishing various enterprises relating to narcotic drugs.

In the process, the accused persons purchased, supplied, paid and credited the drugs, which they further distributed outside and within the country.

The prosecution said on April 26, this year, MV Benjamin anchored in Tema breakwaters with 77 parcels of cocaine. However, 76 parcels were offloaded in two canoes which landed at the Kpone beach in the Greater Accra Region.

The prosecution said the news of 76 parcels got to people underworld and even the security agencies also had wind of it. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Kofi Boakye invited them to a meeting in his house at Kanda in relation to the missing cocaine. At that meeting, the accused persons voluntarily confessed to their dealings in narcotic business and even boasted openly of previous activities.

The accused in the process also confessed openly that they had purchased drugs, supplied, credited and distributed drugs outside. The accused at ACP Kofi Boakye's house also agreed to locate the 76 parcels of cocaine seized and share it in furtherance of their business because the quantity of cocaine brought in by the MV Benjamin was too much for one person to enjoy.

The government set up the Georgina Wood Committee to investigate some cocaine-related cases including the MV Benjamin case and alleged bribery of senior police officers in a 588 kilos of the drug seized from some Venezuelans at East Legon in Accra.