A Tema Circuit Court has sentenced two police officers to 13 years in jail for unlawful possession of narcotics and conspiracy to traffic narcotics.
The court, presided over by Her Ladyship Aleanor Kakra Barnes Botchway, found Assistant Superintendent of Police Nasiru Amadu and Corporal Emmanuel Mintah, guilty after almost four years of trial.
Prosecutor Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ernest Kuofie said a police officer at the Afienya District Police made a complaint about the activities of the two police officers.
First accused, Amadu, 48, was the Second-in-Command at Sakumono District Police Headquarters with Mintah.
He said Mintah, 43, was working under him at the station as a service driver on.
The complainant was performing snap check duty when they picked up intelligence that a Nissan Navara vehicle with registration number GP 727 was loaded with narcotic drugs from Ho towards Accra.
ASP Kuofie said that about 1915GMT the same day, the accused persons pulled up at the snap check point where they were intercepted.
A search conducted in the vehicle revealed eight sacks containing 541 compressed parcels of substances believed to be narcotic drugs.
The prosecution said the investigation revealed that Mintah had a family relation named Oluman, a resident of Ashaiman Tulaku. Oluman traded in narcotics.
The prosecution said that on November 19, 2023, Corporal Mintah was procured by the said Oluman to assist him in transporting a quantity of Indian hemp from Peki Tsibu in the Volta Region to Tulaku for a fee.
Cpl. Mintah then contacted Amadu about the deal, and he also contacted the said Oluman to agree on the terms of engagement.
He said upon striking a deal with Oluman, the accused persons drove vehicle No. GP 727 from Sakumono to a forest around Peki Tsibu, where they received the exhibits from a waiting Benz bus.
The prosecution said it was in the course of transporting the illicit drugs that police picked up intelligence and arrested them.
It was detected that the incident on November 19, 2023, marked the second time the accused persons were engaged in such an illegal act.
The exhibits have been examined by the forensic crime laboratory.
The court held that the two unlawfully possessed narcotic drugs for trafficking contrary to Sections 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act 1960 and unlawful possession of narcotic drugs for trafficking contrary to Section 37(2)(b) of the Narcotic Control Commission Act 2020 (1019).
The two were sentenced to 5 and 10 years each and the offences are to run concurrently.
In addition, the convicts were fined 10,000 penalty units (GHC¢120,000). In default, they are to serve additional three years each to their 10-year sentence.