Georgina Wood Committee identifies .... those behind importation of 77 parcels of cocaine

The five-member committee set up by the Minister of Interior, Albert Kan-Dapaah, to investigate two high profile cocaine-related cases have come out with some startling revelations.

For example, it finds that Detective Sergeant Samuel Yaw Amoah of the Ghana Police Service, “who had vital information which could have led to the immediate arrest of one of the drug traffickers, let the nation down by failing to pass on the information to his superiors and choosing rather to collect a bribe of $3,000.”

The law enforcement officer, according to the report, confessed to the Committee that he met Asem Darkei Sheriff at Kpone almost immediately after the discharge of the drug consignment from the vessel. Mr Sheriff then allegedly confided in the sergeant about the discharge and was accompanied to his house by the officer to collect the $3,000, (less than ¢30 million).

The international street value of the consignment is about $230m.

On the estimated 2,300 tonnes of cocaine itself, the findings are that “There is no evidence that members of the [Police] service were involved in conveying the narcotic drugs from the Benjamin to its final destination.”

Some of the findings of the Justice Georgina Wood Committee’s are as follows:

• That in actual fact, 77 sacks of cocaine were brought into the country by the vessel MV Benjamin in April 2006

• The committee also discovered that the Benjamin arrived in Tema on the 26th of April 2006, around midnight

• At between 2.00am and 3.00 am, two canoes with armed men, who from the evidence appeared to be fishermen, collected 76 sacks of the cocaine from the Benjamin and conveyed the consignment to a landing site at Kpone

• The cocaine was delivered to Asem Darkei Sheriff and Kwak Seong, aka Killer, a Korean, who had them packed into a waiting vehicle and driven away to an unknown destination

• The Committee finds that no evidence that security operatives or personnel of the Ghana Police Service aided them in the importation or discharge of the cocaine from the Benjamin

• The Committee finds that the cocaine is owned by four people, who masterminded its importation and discharge. They are Asem Darkei Sheriff, Captain Hwak of Adede2/MVBenjamin, Chief Engineer Lee of the same vessel, and Kwak “Killer” Seong.

Apart from the names indicted above, some thirteen other names (including the crew of the vessel), plus a number of unidentified Ghanaian fishermen, who, the report finds, conveyed the drugs from the vessel to a landing site at Kpone, have been recommended for prosecution.

As exclusively revealed by The Statesman yesterday, those recommended for prosecution include ACP Kofi Boakye, Kwabena “Tagor” Amaning, Issah Abass, Kwabena Acheampong and Mohamed Moro.

All five men were present at a meeting in the residence of the Director-General of Police Operations, ACP Boakye.

The committee says it accepts the account of the police commissioner that the purpose of the meeting was to find out who was spreading false rumours That he raided MV Benjamin with his men and stole the cocaine.

The committee finds, through evidence largely adduced from the secretly recorded meeting, that “Tagor and Alhaji Issah Abass confessed to a number of narcotic drug deals they had engaged in, in the past, and the use to which they had put some of the money which accrued from the deals.”

The report finds that at the recorded meeting, the participants “went into agreement to find and meet the owners of the narcotic drugs, they had reason to believe were Columbians.”

This is in stark contrast to the committee’s own findings on the owners of the illegal consignment.

The report says of the popular police chief, “from the recorded spontaneous conversation of the participants that ACP Kofi Boakye’s specific role was to ‘stay in the background and sort out’ the Columbians should they prove naughty.”

Also, the Committee has made findings “from the recorded discussions other acts of corruption, abuse of office, professional misconduct and unsatisfactory service on the part of ACP Kofi Boakye.”

The fact-finding Georgina Wood Committee, which was inaugurated on July 4 and completed its sittings on September 5, was tasked to, first, determine the facts leading to the suspected loss of 76 parcels of cocaine imported by sea, and, second, to determine the allegation of bribery levelled against some senior police officers in respect of the seizure of 558 kilogrammes of cocaine from an East Legon house.

Grace Assibi Asibrele, according to the report, was “actuated by malice” when he alleged that the two officers, ACP Patrick Ampewuah and Superintendent Edward Tabiri had collected an amount of $200,000 as bribe from her. The allegation, the Committee says, was not proven.

“The Committee would have recommended her prosecution under the laws of Ghana for the offence of deceit of public officer, but for the role that she played in exposing the illegal activities of the Venezuelans.”

Two Venezuelans are on trial for the East Legon raid.

The committee has accepted the police version that Ms Assibi “was one of the informants who gave the tip off that led to the successful raid and it was through her cooperation that the subsequent investigations were successfully carried out.”

The recommended charges are to come under the Criminal Code, 1960 (Act 29), the Narcotic Drugs (Control, Enforcement and Sanctions) Law 1990 (PNDCL236), and the Police Service Act, 1970 (Act 350).

Issues regarding the Inspector General of the Police and other matters will be in the Saturday Statesman.