Policemen convicted on drugs charges

Accra, Dec. 21, GNA - An Accra Fast Track High Court on Friday slapped a total jail sentence of eighty-one years on three policemen who allegedly aided Sheriff Asem Dake, the prime suspect in the disappearance of 76 parcels of cocaine on board the MV Benjamin to escape arrest.

Detective Lance Corporal Dwamena Yabson, General Sergeant David Nyarko and General Lance Corporal Peter Bondorin, each received 25 years in hard labour on promoting prohibited business relating to narcotics in addition to two-years each for corruption of public officers. This the court said would serve as a deterrent for other serving police officers.

The three policemen, Nyarko, Yabson and Bondorin had pleaded not guilty.

A fourth policeman, Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah, is on the run. He jumped bail granted him and his accomplices by an Accra Regional Tribunal.

Handing down the sentence, the court presided over by Mr Justice Anin- Yeboah, a court of Appeal Judge, expressed regret at the behaviour of some police officers through whose negligence Sgt. Amoah was able to escape.

By this act, the image of the Police Service had been tarnished as a result of the escape of Sgt. Amoah from the grips the police.

"It is very unfortunate that the police allowed him to escape, this is very disgraceful to the Service".

Justice Annin-Yeboah said it was very strange that the three, who were asked to effect the arrest of a harmless disable person like Sherrif Asem Dake a.k.a The Limping Man, could not arrest him but let him off the hook.

He said all the three policemen allowed themselves to be influenced by money as a prosecution witness, a fisherman whose evidence made the court to believe that all the three policemen followed Dake to his house and received money in dollar bills.

The court described his evidence as overwhelming and credible as he was able to convinced the court beyond all reasonable doubt that all the policemen were in the house including some fishermen.

"My Lord, Sgt. Amoah sat in the house for a while and said he wanted to go out to stroll and as we went out, we saw Dake handing something to the police, we all boarded the vehicle. It was some pieces of hundred dollar bills and we shared," the fisherman had told the court.

The court said this evidence was crucial, as it left the court no doubt that all the three policemen were in the house of Dake and therefore rejected their defence, which the court did not believe. The court described the three policemen as not being impressive at all in their evidence and that they indeed received money from Dake and that there was a lot of inconsistencies in their story. The court said the conduct of the three policemen indicated that they told lies under oath and indeed received money. It went on to say the action of Bondonrin was incredible as he was armed with a rifle but refuse to arrest Dake who used money to influence him. It said all the three policemen's conduct showed that they were present at the scene to arrest the "Limping Man" but made money to influence them.

The prosecution called nine witnesses to prove their case while defence called one witness.

The case for the prosecution was that on April 26, last year, MV Benjamin arrived on the high seas at the Tema Port. The vessel was carrying 77 parcels of cocaine imported by one Sheriff Asem Dake.

Soon after the vessel arrived, the parcels of cocaine were offloaded unto two canoes, which sailed to Kpone Beach, near Tema. Some fishermen who spotted the canoes became suspicious and called the owner of the canoes.

The owner of the canoes and others informed Sergeant Amoah who was stationed at Tema New Town. He in turn mobilized the other accused persons and they proceeded to the Kpone Beach.

At the beach, the accused persons looked on until Asem Dake offloaded the drugs into a four-wheel vehicle.

The accused persons then followed the vehicle to Tema where Dake gave them some money and they failed to arrest him. Relatives, friends and sympathisers of the three including their wives broke down in tears, jumping and wailing, as policemen marched the convicts towards a waiting vehicle ready to take them away to begin their sentences.