Accra, March 12, GNA - A former employee of Aviance Ghana Limited, Lawrence Gomarshie was on Monday sentenced to 15 years imprisonment in hard labour by the Greater Accra Regional Tribunal for dealing in drugs. Gomarshie 42, had pleaded not guilty to attempted exportation of narcotic drugs and possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority. The court after trial found him guilty and convicted him accordingly. Gomarshie is said to have confessed that the parcel of cocaine weighing 12,127 grammes was given to him by one Boro Bora, a friend for a fee of 1,000 dollars to be dropped in one of the KLM containers. Gabriel Avorgbedor, who is standing trial with Goamrshie was however acquitted and discharged after his lawyers put up a submission of no case.

The case for the prosecution as put up by Mr Augustines Obuor, State Attorney was that Gomarshie was a Cargo Supervisor of Aviance Ghana Limited and Loader Machine Operator.

On September 28, 2005 at about 9:30 pm personnel of Ghana Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) security guards on duty at the terminal point at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) saw Gomarshie and Avorgbedor drive the Aviance loading tractor to the airside near a KLM aircraft, which was then loading.

Avorgbedor picked a brown box from the tractor and pushed it into one of the KLM container pallet and a security man who saw the action, confronted Gomarshie and Avorgbedor.

Avorgbedor told the security man that the box was one of the boxes containing vegetables, which had been left behind a KLM container. Avorgbedor escaped but the security man took the box and Lawrence to the offices of GCAA and when personnel of the Narcotic Control Board were invited to inspect the box it contained 10 large parcels of whitish powdery substance suspected to be cocaine.

A field test conducted also proved the substance to be cocaine. When the Police interrogated Gomarshie he stated that the box was given to him by one Boro Baro a forwarding agent to drop in a KLM container for a fee of 1,000 dollars.

According to Gomarshie, Baro had told him that if he (Baro) sent the parcel to the KLM office, it would not be accepted.