Ghana finds no links between cocaine case suspects and presidential security — MyJoyOnline
Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) said it had found no links between suspects in the Dunkirk cocaine seizure case and the security details of President John Dramani Mahama or Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
Verification of the suspects
NACOC Deputy Director-General Alexander Twum-Barimah said that after the suspects were detained, the agency conducted background checks on them. According to him, none of the information obtained indicated that any of them had worked in the security detail of the president or vice president.
According to MyJoyOnline, NACOC’s information on one of the accused, Musa Attah, nicknamed Kromo, indicates that he identified himself as a farmer. Twum-Barimah stressed that the commission has no evidence of his connection to the presidential security service.
The official also commented on photographs circulated on social media that allegedly show Attah standing near Mahama and Opoku-Agyemang. He stated that the president’s and vice president’s security units operate separately and that one person cannot simultaneously belong to both groups.
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Charges in the case
The dispute arose after statements by Old Tafo Member of Parliament Vincent Ekow Assafuah. He claimed that Attah was connected to the security details of both officials and circulated photographs that, in his view, confirmed this. NACOC rejected this characterization, citing the results of its checks.
Musa Attah is one of four Ghanaian nationals charged over the alleged shipment of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine from Ghana to France. French customs officers seized the suspected cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk on September 10: the substance was found in a container of plastic waste that had arrived from Ghana. Part of the cargo was reportedly headed for Antwerp, Belgium.
Desmond Koranteng Kuriel, Musa Attah, Kweku Okyere and Jessica Hartog appeared before the Accra High Court on September 16. They are charged with conspiracy to export narcotics without a licence and with exporting narcotics; all pleaded not guilty. They were remanded in custody until the next hearing, scheduled for October 13. Another suspect, Dutch national Jos Leijdekkers, remains at large, according to the report. The investigation is ongoing.
