Guyanese crew charged in Ghana cocaine bust

Guyanese crew charged in Ghana cocaine bust

 Five persons arrested by Ghanaian security officials aboard a Guyanese ship carrying 21 bags of cocaine worth $50 million have been charged for possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority, according to news reports out of Ghana.

The four Guyanese and one Ghanaian were arrested on Tuesday, November 19, 2013 in Sekondi in the Western region of Ghana after Ghana Navy boarded the vessel and discovered the 21 bags of cocaine.

They were arraigned before an Accra High court,today, November 22, 2013.

The accused persons, Mila Ronald, captain of the ship, Perceval Curt, Samuel Mornty, Saint Praimchad with their Ghanaian counterpart, Seth Grant, were remanded by the court, presided over by Justice C.J. Hoenyenugah, an Appeal court judge, sitting as an additional High Court judge.

The accused persons explained to the court that they could not afford the services of a lawyer to defend them in the case.

The court, therefore remanded them to re-appear on December 13, this year, by which time, results of exhibits forwarded to the forensic laboratory for testing, would be available.

State Attorney, Mr. Samuel Asiamah Sampong, the prosecutor in the case assured the court that the results of the tests will be made available on the next adjourned date.

The accused persons were on board the ship, “ATIYAH, George-Town”, which was intercepted, following a tip-off from Ghana’s international security partners.

The ship was travelling from Guyana, when it was arrested and was escorted by Ghana Naval Ship, Yaa Asantewaa, to the Sekondi Naval Base.

The accused persons, together with the substances, were flown to Accra and handed over to the National Security and the Narcotics Control Board for investigations.

The ship left Guyana from Parika in October and made a brief stop in Venezuela before going on to Ghana. There are reports that the ship had been on the radar of several countries prior to its arrest.

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