Dake carted 76 parcels of cocaine into the vessel - Witness

Accra, April 24, GNA - A Witness in the case in which Sherrif Asem Dake, alias Limping man is alleged to have carted 76 parcels of cocaine from the MV Benjamin into two canoes at Kpone near Tema, on Tuesday told an Accra Fast Track Court that the three policemen failed to arrest Sherrif Asem Dake.

The tenth Prosecution Witness, Detective Inspector Charles Adaba, who was giving his evidence-in-chief, explained that: "They collected an unspecified amount of US Dollars and set him free". Mr. Samuel Agyeman Doudo, a Senior State Attorney, led the Witness in evidence.

Inspector Adaba, who identified all the three accused persons in court stated that the first accused, General Sergeant David Nyarko and the second accused, Detective Lance Corporal Yabson Dwamena, were stationed at the Tema New Town police station, while General Lance Corporal Peter Bondorin was stationed at the Kpone police station.

The Witness said sometime in August, last year, when he was attached to the Ministry of The Interior, he received a message that one Dake had used a canoe to cart cocaine at the Kpone Beach near Tema. He contended that an investigation conducted, established that two fishermen saw the canoe loaded with the parcels.

Witness contended further that there were gunshots, which made the fishermen to run away to call the owner of the vessel. On his arrival, the owner of the vessel saw the fourth policeman, Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah, who is now on the run.

At this point, Inspector Adaba said, Sergeant Amoah mobilised some of his men and proceeded to the Paradise Beach, where they were informed that the vessel had changed its direction towards the Kpone Beach. According to him, inve stigations revealed that there were three vehicles, a van, a Daewoo and a Toyota Land cruiser at the beach, and that Sergeant Amoah, Sergeant Nyarko and Lance Corporal Yabson advanced to the Land Cruiser where Dake was sitting behind the steering wheel, while the parcels of cocaine were being off-loaded from the vessel into the van.

He stated that the fishermen then lodged a complaint at the police station. The three accused persons and some fishermen joined the Land Cruiser which was driven by Dake.

The Presiding Judge, Mr. Justice Anin Yeboah remanded the accused persons in prison custody, for them to reappear on May 2.

Inspector Adaba said the van was in the lead, followed by the Land Cruiser and the Daewoo, adding that Lance Corporal Bondorin, who was dressed in mufti and armed with AK 47, intercepted the van, but Sergeant Amoah persuaded him to stop whichever action he wanted to take and follow them.

Witness said on the way, the van alone took a separate direction, while the other two vehicles headed towards Community Five, at Dake's house.

At the house, Witness said, Lance Corporal Bondorin took guard outside and the rest went into the house, where Dake gave out an unspecified amount of US dollars, adding that the amount was shared at the Tema Oil Refinery area.

He said the policemen gave the fishermen 1,000 dollars each and the three also took 3,000 dollars each.

"My Lord, the fishermen made a complaint to the police, but they did not record it officially", he added.

Witness contended that Sergeant Nyarko bought an "Opel Astra", saying he had a firm conviction that the money was part of the proceeds from the booty.

It would be recalled that Detective Sergeant Isaac Asante was originally standing trial with General Sergeant David Nyarko, Detective Lance Corporal Dwamena Yabson and General Lance Corporal Peter Bondorin. Nyarko, Yabson and Bondorin are on charges of engaging in prohibited business and corruption. They have pleaded not guilty. A fourth policeman, Detective Sergeant Samuel Amoah, is on the run. He jumped bail after an Accra Regional Tribunal granted bail to him and his accomplices.

The case of the prosecution is that in the earlier hours of April 26, this year MV Benjamin arrived on the high seas of Tema. 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 Newtown. He in turn mobilized the other accused persons and they proceeded to 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 for which they failed to arrest him. 24 April 07