The two officers who have been jailed
Two officers of the Ghana Police Service have been sentenced to a combined 13 years in prison for unlawful possession and conspiracy to traffic narcotics, after being found guilty by a Circuit Court in Tema.
The two officers, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nasiru Amadu and Corporal Emmanuel Mintah, were convicted by the court after nearly four years of trial.
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According to news reports, the prosecutor, ASP Ernest Kuofie, explained that the case started in 2023 after an officer at the Afienya Police Command reported suspicious behavior by the two accused officers.
At the time, Amadu, 48, was the second-in-command at the Sakumono District Police Headquarters, and Mintah, 43, was his driver.
On November 19, 2023, police received information that a Nissan Navara with registration number GP 727 was carrying narcotics from Ho to Accra.
Around 7:15 PM that same day, the two officers arrived at a checkpoint and were stopped. A search of their vehicle revealed eight sacks containing 541 compressed parcels of suspected narcotics.
Police investigations showed that Mintah had a relative nicknamed “Oluman,” a known narcotics dealer living in Ashaiman Tulaku.
On the day of the incident, Oluman is reported to have hired Mintah to transport Indian hemp from Peki Tsibu in the Volta Region to Tulaku. Mintah then called Amadu, who also contacted Oluman to finalise the plan.
After agreeing on the job, the two officers drove the police vehicle, GP 727, from Sakumono to a forest near Peki Tsibu, where they received the drugs from a Benz bus.
They were arrested while transporting the substances. Investigators later discovered that this was the second time the officers had carried out such an illegal operation.
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The court found that the officers unlawfully possessed narcotics for the purpose of trafficking, violating Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, and Section 37(2)(b) of the Narcotic Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).
They were sentenced to years in prison, to run concurrently, and fined 10,000 penalty units (GH¢120,000). If they fail to pay the fine, they will each serve an additional three years in jail.
MAG/AE
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