Accra, Dec.17 GNA – Mr Daniel Letsi, a clerk at the Cocoa Affairs Court on Friday stated that the seal on the cocaine exhibit which was tendered in court by the prosecution was broken by the Police themselves.

He said the Police investigator on the case broke the seal on the exhibit and brought out the contents from the envelope.

Mr Letsi was testifying at a four-member committee set up by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Wood to investigate the circumstances under which 1,020 grammes of cocaine turned into baking powder.

Mr Letsi made the statement when he was led in evidence by his Counsel Mr George Asumeni at the ongoing probe.

He said on September 27, 2011 when the case was called the prosecution tendered various exhibits in court which he marked them.

He said prosecution also told the court that exhibit ‘C’ was cocaine but the court demanded to know whether the content of that exhibit was actually cocaine.

He said because the Police Investigator, Joseph Owusu was finding it difficult to open the parcel, he (Letsi) gave them scissors to cut-open the side of the cocaine slab to revealed the content of the parcel.

Mr Letsi also said after both the prosecution and defense had agreed to the exhibit in the court he picked a new big envelope and put the sample in it, seal and took it to the metal cabinet which is in the Judge’s chamber.

He said so far as the exhibit was concerned he was the only person who had access to the metal cabinet and it is most of the time under lock and key.

Mr Letsi said on September 28, 2011 during the trial while the defense was expected to continue with the cross-examination, the defense rather called the retesting of the cocaine.

He said at time the prosecution raised objection to the testing of the exhibit but the court ruled in favour of the defense.

He said later the court ordered that samples of the exhibit should be taken to the Ghana Standards Boards (GSB) for retesting to show the veracity of the case or otherwise which all the parties in the case including the prosecution, the police investigator and the defense agreed to it.

Mr Seidu Ussif, a Deputy Court Registrar at the Cocoa Affairs Court who also testified at the committee, said on September 28, 2011 he was in his office when he was informed by Mr Letsi that the circuit court had ordered for a retesting of cocaine at the GSB.

He said because on that day the time was far spent all the parties agreed to carried out the assignment the following day so a seal was put at the edge of the brown envelope so that nobody tampers with the exhibit.

He said on September 29, 2011, he together with Joseph Owusu, the police investigator, Vida Nyamekye , a court clerk left for the GSB where they met one Adarkwah Yiadom, a chemical analyst of the GSB who told them he would have to carry out initial field test on the cocaine exhibit to establish its veracity.

He said after the test had proved negative the chemical analyst took them to another room for further testing on the substance.

He said on November 8, 2011 when they went to the GSB for the report they could not get the analyst to come to the court, so November 18, 2011 the court made an order that he be brought to testify in the matter and on November 22, 2011 the chemical analyst appeared in court to testify.