A young man working as a seaman in the 1970s in Ghana, Kwabena Josiah, had the opportunity to travel the world and experience diverse cultures.

According to the man who will turn 71 years old in June, it was this exposure that led to his life of drug addiction.

In 1977, he met a Moroccan lady, whom he says was a prostitute, she introduced him to drugs while he was in Europe and his life has gone downhill since then.

"The first time I take drug in Europe [it was] through my girlfriend, ebe Moroccan girl… The first time I take drug massa the way the drug take my eye I feel so good, I’m happy,” he said of his first experience, adding that he took the drug for two consecutive days and when he didn’t take it on the third day, “ebe like they put pepper on my body,” he recounted in an interview with Kofi Adoma Nwanwanii.

While still working as a seaman, people paid him between $5,000 - $10,000 to deliver some parcels to other people for them, and on one such occasion, he decided to open the parcel to see what was in it.

“I didn’t know what was in the bags but when I found out, I said to myself ‘so these people they come give me $5,000, $10,000 and they go carry millions of dollars? Ok, next time I will advise myself'.

“So one time they came I took the goods and money and when they left, I opened it and saw several kilos of drugs. Then I went to town, I had a girlfriend who was a prostitute and she connected me to a drug pusher to buy. He asked me how much I had. I had about 5 kilos but I told him one kilo so he took it, tested it, and gave me my money when he confirmed it was pure,” he narrated.

Talking about the dangers of the drug business, he recounted witnessing a Nigerian being killed and opened up to retrieve some balls of cocaine he had swallowed.

“They opened him up with a knife and cut all his intestines to retrieve several balls of drugs he had swallowed and left the body there.”

To escape a similar fate, Kwabena Josiah left the boat he was working on and found his way back to Ghana.

“They [the people who gave him the drugs to deliver] were looking for me to kill me so I run from the boat, sold the drugs and bought tickets back to Ghana. With the drug money, I built houses and bought cars.”

He built three houses, ones he describes as villas, and bought several vehicles for both private and commercial use.

But to keep satisfying his need for drugs, Kwabena Josiah ended up selling almost all his properties. The only thing he didn’t sell was one of his houses and that was because his wife at the time advised him to rather use it for a long lease.

“Drug life is very expensive… I’ve sold two of my houses… I had a truck, MAN Diesel 10 wheelers taking container from habour, I sold it, I had five 207s I sold all, there were four taxis… I sold all. I lost plenty things.” He recounted.

“The lease will expire in about 4 years 6 months,” he said of the remaining house.

He said due to his lifestyle, all his important documents including those for the leased property are with family members who can properly take care of them.

Watch the full interview below



DA/FNOQ