Jailed MV Benjamin crew member passes away

Accra, Aug. 11, GNA - A member of the crew on board the MV Benjamin vessel who was jailed for 25 years for his involvement in the missing 76 parcels of cocaine has died.

Philip Kobina Bruce Arhin, a 49-year old mechanic, died on Saturday at the infirmary of the Nsawam Medium Prisons.

Arhin had been on admission at Nsawam Government Hospital but was discharged last Friday. He, however, passed away the next day. He had served 17 days of the term.

Sources say Arhin until his conviction had been suffering from jaundice. Arhin could not appear in court on the day judgment was pronounced.

A source close to the Ghana Prisons Service said the family of the deceased has been informed.

On July 25, the Fast Track High Court handed down 25 years jail term on the deceased and four others for their involvement the missing 76 parcels of cocaine on board MV Benjamin.

Others include Isaac Arhin, a 49-year-old sailor, Cui Xing Li, a 44-year old Chinese sailor and Luo Yin Xing, a 49-year-old Chinese sailor and Joseph Kojo Dawson, the vessel owner.

Isaac Arhin, Philip Arhin, Cui and Luo were charged for possessing narcotic drugs without authority and engaging in prohibited business. Dawson, who is also the Managing Director of Dashment Company Limited, indirectly without lawful authority and with the intention of facilitating an enterprise relating to narcotic drugs, did allow one Asem Darke, a.k.a. Sheriff, to use his vessel (MV Benjamin/MV Adede II) to import 77 parcels, each containing 30 kilograms of cocaine, into the country without a license issued by the Ministry of Health.

They all pleaded not guilty.

The court on October 16, 2007 acquitted and discharged Pak Bok Sil, a 46 year-old Korean engineer, because the prosecution failed to make a case against him.

The prosecution said on February 6, 2006 the vessel set sail and on the high seas, the crew met another vessel, which discharged cartons of cocaine into it and MV Benjamin was renamed Adede II in Monrovia. The cartons of cocaine were later off-loaded into two small boats and sent to an unknown destination. When the vessel docked at Tema breakwaters, security agencies arrested the crew and when the vessel was searched one carton containing 30 slabs was retrieved from the hatch.