Man, 54, and nephew before court for possessing narcotic drugs

A 54-year-old businessman and his nephew are standing trial at the Kumasi Circuit Court for illegal possession of cocaine and heroin.

Richmond Adjei Amoako, 19, a first-year student of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), and his uncle, Kofi Asamoah, were arraigned at the Kumasi Circuit Court presided over by Mrs Afia Adu Amankwah on charges of illegal possession of narcotic drugs.

They pleaded not guilty to charges of illegal possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority and have been remanded in prison custody to re-appear on August 10, 2015.

Arrest

The two were arrested on May 23, this year, in their house at Atonsu in Kumasi with substances that later tested positive for cocaine and heroin.

This was after a search in the house where the police retrieved a total of 75.8 grams of drugs made up of 81 parcels of herion separately wrapped in transparent polythene material and weighing 72.39 grams; and 19 separately wrapped cocaine weighing about 3.4 grams.

Facts

Superintendent of Police Emmanuel Akonnor told the court that on May 23, this year, at about 12 noon, personnel from the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the Ghana Police Service in Kumasi went on an operation in the Atonsu area to flush out illicit drug peddlers and users.

He said during the exercise the police had a tip-off that Asamoah was dealing in narcotics, leading to a search in his house.

According to the prosecution, the police found nothing incriminating in Asamoah’s. However, when the room of his nephew, Amoako, was searched, the substances were discovered in different transparent wrappers.

They also found a digital scale suspected to be used in weighing the drugs, all hidden in a wardrobe.

According to Mr Akonnor, Amoako denied ownership of the items and pointed at Asamoah as the person who gave the substances to one of his errand boys named Baba alias BA, to be hidden in his (Amoako’s) room.

Mr Akonnor said upon further interrogations, Asamoah mentioned Samba Keita, a Nigerian, as his supplier but failed to lead the police to his hideout.

Test

According to the prosecutor when the substances were sent to the Ghana Standards Authority for testing they tested positive for cocaine and heroin.