A Circuit Court in Tema has sentenced two police officers to a total of 13 years imprisonment in hard labour for conspiracy and unlawful possession of narcotic drugs for the purpose of trafficking.
The convicted officers are Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nasiru Amadu, 48, who was the second-in-command at the Sakumono District Police Headquarters, and Corporal Emmanuel Mintah, 43, a service driver attached to the same command.
Presiding judge, Her Ladyship Eleanor Kakra Barnes Botchway, handed ASP Amadu a 10-year jail term and Corporal Mintah five years, with the sentences to run concurrently. Each officer was also fined 10,000 penalty units (GH¢120,000) or in default serve an additional three years in prison.
The four-year trial concluded after the prosecution, led by ASP Ernest Kuofie, proved beyond reasonable doubt that the two officers had conspired to transport large quantities of compressed Indian hemp from the Volta Region to Accra.
According to the facts presented in court, the case began in November 2023 when police at the Afienya District Command received intelligence about suspicious movements involving the convicts.
On November 19, 2023, officers on snap-check duty intercepted a Nissan Navara pickup with police registration number GP 727 at a checkpoint. The vehicle was being driven by the two accused persons.
A thorough search revealed eight sacks containing 541 compressed parcels suspected to be narcotic substances. Forensic examination by the Ghana Police Forensic Crime Laboratory later confirmed the substances were indeed Indian hemp.
Investigations established that Corporal Mintah had been contracted by a known drug dealer popularly called “Oluman”, a relative residing in Ashaiman Tulaku, to move the drugs from Peki Tsibu in the Volta Region to Accra.
Mintah subsequently roped in ASP Amadu, who also spoke directly with “Oluman” to finalise the arrangement. The two officers then drove from Sakumono to a forest near Peki Tsibu, collected the consignments from a Mercedes Benz bus, and were arrested while returning to Accra.
It further emerged that this was the second time the officers had undertaken a similar operation.
The court found them guilty of unlawfully possessing narcotics for trafficking, contrary to Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29), and Section 37(2)(b) of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).