PHOTOS: Cocaine scandal: 2 more picked up by police

• Posted on November 28, 2014November 28, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Two ladies believed to have accompanied Nayele Ametefeh aka Ruby Adu-Gyamfi on her trip to the United Kingdom (UK) where she was arrested for importing 12 kg of cocaine, were yesterday remanded into custody by an Accra Circuit Court.

They are Sadalia Nuhu and Nana Akua Amponsah, both businesswomen who were picked up on Tuesday along with seven other people.

It is the case of the prosecution that the two ladies on or about November 9 this year, agreed with Ms Ametefeh aka Ruby Appiah or Ruby Adu Gyamfi to act together with a common purpose to export the narcotic drugs to the UK.

The accused persons have both denied any wrongdoing.

The arraignment of the two before the court brings to five the number of suspects remanded by the same court in respect of the cocaine case.

It will be recalled that the court presided over by Judge Francis Obiri on Tuesday locked up three persons—Abiel Ashitey Armah, Foreign Service Officer in charge of the VVIP Lounge at KIA; Ahmed Abubakar, Protocol Officer and Kissi Theophilius, a Civil Servant—into BNI custody for their alleged complicity in the exportation of the cocaine.

However, appearing before Judge Obiri yesterday, Sadalia and Nana Akua pleaded not guilty to the offence and were remanded into BNI custody to reappear on December 8.

Counsel Fight for Bail

Counsel for Sadalia said he was bemused by the facts of the case as presented by Cynthia Lamptey, the acting Director of Public Prosecution.

He said the prime suspect in the case was standing trial in the UK, adding that his client was not caught with the substance.

Insisting the arrest of his client by the police was a “panic arrest”, he stated that Sadalia Nuhu had no connection to the case.

He accordingly prayed the court to grant her bail.

Counsel for Nana Akua Amponsah, on his part, said the facts of the police have not established any nexus between his client and the case.

Bail Rejected

The fervent appeals for bail put in by counsel for the accused persons were not granted by the court.

The trial judge however ordered that the BNI allowed the accused persons access to their counsel and close relations within the normal working hours.

Facts

She said the accused persons booked their flights to travel to London on November 8, 2014 but by arrangement they changed their flight dates to November 9, the date on which Nayele was scheduled to travel to London.

According to the acting Director of Public Prosecution, on November 9 the accused person and Nayele met at the departure lounge of the Kotoka International Airport and checked in after which Nayele informed them that they will be using the VIP lounge at the airport.

Ms Lamptey said after checking in, they all moved to the Okponglo residence of the mother of Nayele where they met a certain gentleman, stressing that after about 30 minutes, they all departed the residence of Nayele’s mother to the airport in a four wheel drive vehicle.

Contradiction

The acting Director of Public Prosecution further told the court that at the airport, the accused persons were met by Ahmed Abubakar and Theophilus Kissi, who ushered the ladies through the staff entrance of the airport through arrivals to the VIP lounge and not the VVIP lounge as earlier investigations revealed.

The State Attorney disclosed that preliminary investigations indicate that Abubakar and Kissi facilitated the passage of the three ladies by processing their passports and boarding documents.

Ms Lamptey said additionally, Abubakar and Kissi carried the luggage of the said ladies onto the BA flight for departure to the UK.

The acting Director of Public Prosecution noted that after boarding the British Airways flight, a man in a black suit brought in another luggage which was handed over to Nayele.

She indicated that upon arrival in the UK, Nayele was arrested and on the following day Sadalia flew to Paris in France and joined a flight to Togo before coming to Ghana.

Nana Akua Amponsah, Ms Lamptey stated, also found her way to Ghana soon after.

  By Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson