The Greater Accra Regional Tribunal yesterday sentenced a 30 year old Ghanaian resident in Spain to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour for possessing cocaine without lawful authority. Joydan Daniel Sessah, a butcher, was sentenced on his own plea of being guilty.

The convict, who swallowed 66 pellets of cocaine in an attempt to smuggle them out of the country was charged with one count of possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority. The facts of the case were that the convict arrived at the Kotoka International Airport on April 23, 2005 to board a flight to Holland. However, officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) who were on duty at the airport, suspected Sessah of possessing narcotic drugs.

The suspicion of the NACOB officials was based on the convicts strange demeanour and odd movement at the airport. The NACOB officials arrested Sessah and took him to the 37 Military Hospital where an ex-ray conducted on him revealed foreign substances concealed in the his stomach. According to the prosecution, Sessah was later put under observation under the supervision of NACOB officials and the police and he eventually expelled 66 pellets of cocaine. Sessah admitted committing the offence and explained that he had been contracted by one Akose to carry the drugs for a fee of $3000.

According to the convict, the said Akose was waiting for him in Holland to receive the drugs. The exhibits were later forwarded to the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) where they tested positive for cocaine. Efforts are being made to apprehend the said Akose.