Accra, June 19, GNA - An Accra Regional Tribunal on Tuesday sentenced a 41-year-old hawker to 10 years' imprisonment in hard labour for possessing cocaine, a narcotic drug, with approximate net weight of 995 grams.

The tribunal, chaired by Mr. Justice Manu ordered that the drug, which was in the possession of the convict, Greek-based Nigerian-born Okeke Edwin Onyebuchi, should be destroyed. Okeke was charged with possessing narcotic drug without lawful authority, contrary to Section 2(1) and (2) of the Narcotic Drugs (Control, Enforcement and Sanctions) Law 1990, PNDCL 236. The convict who had pleaded not guilty to the offence, changed his plead during the trial to guilty.

He was therefore convicted on his own plea. Mr. Augustines Obour, a State Attorney from the Attorney General's Department, said at about 2130 hours on August 23, last year, Okeke arrived at the Kotoka International Airport to board an Alitalia flight to Athens, Greece.

Officials of the Narcotics Control Board on duty at the airport suspected him of carrying narcotic drug and sent him to the 37 Military Hospital for an X-ray examination. The prosecution said the examination revealed that he had foreign matter in his stomach.

According to the State Attorney, Okeke expelled 64 pellets of whitish substance suspected to be cocaine. "When Okeke was interrogated, he alleged that he received the drug from one Marcos, also a Nigerian, to be delivered to someone in Greece for a fee of 4,000 Euros," he stated. The prosecution said the convict failed to assist the police to identify and arrest the alleged Marcos.