Lawyers dump cocaine barons

Lawyers defending one of the two Venezuelans in the East Legon Cocaine bust in which the police hauled up 588 kilogram’s of cocaine have stabbed their client at the back by failing to appear in court last Friday.

The unexpected development forced the court to further adjourn the case, but not before it refused the two drug barons bail for the second time.

The two lawyers, Sogbodjor and Obeng, who are listed attorneys for Joel Mejia, who was arrested in the house at East Legon where the cocaine haul was discovered and seized, failed to appear in court last Friday when the case was called for hearing.

A third lawyer, Mr Senanu, who is defending the other Venezuelan, Rosero Castillo, was in court, but was handicapped in proceeding with the case since the absence of his two colleagues constituted enough grounds for the adjournment of the case.

No reason was assigned for the absence of the two lawyers but sources close to the police suspected it could be linked to their busy schedule for the day.

The prosecution, led by Miss Gertrude Aikins, Chief State- Attorney, who is also the acting Director of Public Prosecutions was last Friday ready to begin its case by inviting its first witness, Superintendent Edward Tabiri, but the absence of the two lawyers truncated the trial.

Superintendent Tabiri was however in court.

Meanwhile as indicated by government last Thursday that drug suspects would not be granted bail. The two Venezuelans who were busted in the East Legon cocaine swoop have been realized bail for the second time.

This was when their counsels, Lawyers Senanu representing Italo Gervasto Rosero Castillo and Obeng and Sorgodjor representing Joel Mejia filed an appeal for bail on July 14, 2006, praying the court to grant the three, including the fugitive Geraldo Vasques bail.

The third accused, Geraldo Vasques suspected to be the barin behind the East Legon cocaine haul, was however in court as he is currently on the run.

The court, presided over by Justice Ayebi however torpedoed the appeal for bail after the prosecutor, Chief State Attorney Gertrude Aikins, had opposed the bail application.

Miss Aikins, who is the acting Director of Public Prosecutions, opposed the bail on the application on grounds that it would harm on- going investigations into the circumstances that facilitated the entry of such a huge haul of cocaine into the country.

The two charged with three counts of offences including importing narcotics into Ghana without authority and possessing narcotic drugs without authority.

The third charge that the prosecution proffered against the three is that they had conspired to import narcotic drugs into the country without authority. The two suspected drug peddlers, Joel Meija and Italo Castillo, however pleaded not guilty to the charges to appear on July 26, 2006 for the case to begin.