An Accra Circuit Court has granted bail to four individuals charged with allegedly attempting to export narcotic drugs.
The accused — Gariba Soli, Josiah Biney, Emmanuel Minta, and Kwabena Ampofo Anti — were each granted bail in the sum of GH¢13 million, with four sureties, three of whom must be justified.
The bail was granted by the presiding judge, Sedinam Awo Kwadam, following a bail application by lawyers for the accused.
As part of the bail conditions, one of the sureties must provide justification with a landed property valued at GH¢1 million, while two others must be civil servants earning not less than GH¢5,000 per month.
The four accused persons have pleaded not guilty to charges including attempted exportation of narcotic drugs without a licence, conspiracy to commit a crime, possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority, and further conspiracy charges.
Background
According to the prosecution, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, authorised officers at the Export Section of the Swissport Cargo Terminal conducted a routine physical inspection of outbound cargo destined for Brussels, Belgium.
During the process, the officers intercepted three packages, packed in wooden boxes, on suspicion of concealing narcotic substances and en route to the Netherlands.
Initial examination of the packages revealed assorted wooden artefacts, with no incriminating items. However, upon emptying and scanning the boxes, the scanned images indicated false compartments had been created within each box.
These compartments were deconstructed and were found to contain a total of 73 compressed slabs of a suspected narcotic substance.
Substance
When opened, a sample slab revealed a whitish powdery substance, which subsequently tested positive for cocaine.
All four suspects were arrested and taken to the headquarters of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) for further investigation.
During preliminary investigations, the suspects denied knowledge of the concealed drugs. However, under interrogation, Soli — identified as the shipper of the intercepted packages — stated that he had been engaged by an individual named Patrick to export the artefacts to the Netherlands on his behalf.
Soli said he had been working with a representative of Patrick in Ghana, known only as Onik and Imex, since January 2025.
He disclosed that the three wooden boxes were delivered to him by Onik at the premises of the Art Exhibition Centre.
Soli further explained that he, along with his colleagues, had loaded the empty boxes with assorted wooden artefacts, sealed them with nails, and sent them to Swissport.
He added that the packages remained with the freight agents, Ansahdys Shipping & Logistics, until he was invited to witness the examination of the cargo — at which point he was arrested.
The suspected narcotic substances will be forwarded to the Ghana Standards Authority for analytical testing and reporting.