Accra, June 18, GNA - The State on Thursday vehemently opposed the bail application of Ms Augustina Abu, one of six persons, standing trial in the case in which 61 parcels of cocaine were seized at the Tema Port from a 40- foot container.

The State said even in the case of the five others, bail terms should be strict to prevent them from absconding. In the case of Ms Abu, the importer, Mr Asiamah Sampong, Principal State Attorney, said it was seeking international assistance on the importation of the drug, adding she was alleged to have imported the drug into the country.

The State Attorney earlier informed the court that the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) was conducting further investigations into the matter and would therefore need another two weeks. Abu, importer, Yaw Attah Nkansah, clearing agent, Alfred Amedzi, Managing Director of Sedco Agency, Kennedy Osei and Simon Bede, directors of Sedco Agency and Francis Addo, a driver, are being held for engaging in criminal conspiracy.

Abu is also being held for importing narcotic drugs, suspected to be cocaine into the country. They have pleaded not guilty to the narcotic related charges levelled against them.

Meanwhile, the court at its last sitting tasked the state to speed up its investigation machinery since hearing was going to commence. But Mr Sampong informed the court that it would not be able to commence hearing on Thursday, because NACOB had requested for assistance from sister intelligence agencies on the case. According to him, they have not received any information from these international agencies, hence would seek an adjournment. But the defence team vehemently reacted to prosecution's submission saying they were wondering when investigation would be over so that the trial would commence.

They contended that the prosecution had not been able to provide enough evidence before the court, to justify the continuous incarceration of the accused persons.

They pointed out the untold hardship they were encountering because of the accused persons' incarceration, adding that the prosecution's submission indicated that they were not ready to start the trial. "All the adjournments are at the instance of the prosecution," they observed, and submitted to the court to use its discretion and grant bail to the accused persons. The court adjourned the matter to Friday June 19, to rule on the matter.

The facts of the case are that on May 15, this year M/V Maersk Nolanville docked at Tema Port with containers from Ecuador, Panama and Spain. The prosecution said among the containers was one with number MSAU0118160 manifested to contain 1,880 cartons of chewing gum, imported by Ms Abu of Augustina Abu Enterprise. The prosecutor said personnel of the Joint Port Control Unit (JPCU) made up of officers from the Narcotics Control Board; Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS); Bureau of National Investigations (BNI); Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and the Police tagged the said container, which meant that the container could only be opened by JPCU officers.

At about 1530 hours on May 19, the container was scanned and the image disclosed that it had some other objects in addition to its official cargo.

During a thorough examination, two bags containing a total of 61 slabs of whitish substances suspected to be cocaine were found among the cartons of the chewing gum. A test of the substance indicated that it was cocaine. 18 June 09