German on trial for attempted exportation of cocaine

Accra, Nov. 20, GNA - Heyne Frank, a German national resident in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Tuesday appeared before an Accra Regional Tribunal on charges of attempted exportation and unlawful possession of 7.015 kilogrammes of cocaine, a narcotic drug. Frank pleaded not guilty to both charges and the three-member tribunal chaired by Mr Justice Frank Manu, remanded him in prison custody until November 30.

The facts of the case as narrated to the tribunal by a State Attorney were that on December 10 last year, while the accused person was going through pre-boarding formalities at the Kotoka International Airport, personnel from the Narcotics Control Board on duty at the airport suspected him of carrying foreign material on his body. The prosecution said the officers sent Frank to the baggage area and after a body search conducted on him revealed nothing, they opened his travelling bag in his presence.

According to the prosecution, a false compartment was found beneath the bag and when it was forced open, it contained a brown parcel. It said the parcel also contained a whitish powdery substance suspected to be a narcotic drug.

The prosecution said the substance proved positive for cocaine after it had been subjected to a field test. Frank, according to the prosecution, was therefore handed over to the police for interrogation.

The substance has since been forwarded to the Ghana Standards Board for analytical examination and report, the prosecution concluded.