The docket on the case involving Christian Sheriff Asem Darkei, alias The Limping Man, has been forwarded to the Attorney-General for advice, the prosecutor in the case, Assitant Superintendent of Police, Mr A. A. Annor, informed the Accra Circuit Court at its sitting Wednesday and prayed for an adjournment. The accused is alleged to have played a major role in the shipment and disappearance of 77 parcels of cocaine in April 2006. Following the new development, the trial judge, Ms Audrey Korcuvie-Tay, adjourned the matter to March 21, 2012 and warned the state to expedite action to have the matter prosecuted. The court refused an application for bail made by counsel for Darkei, Mr George Heward-Mills. Darkei, who had been in hiding since 2006, was arrested by officials of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital upon a tip-off on February 2, 2012. He has pleaded not guilty to the three counts of conspiracy, importation and exportation of narcotic drugs. The 77 parcels of cocaine weighed 2,310 kilogrammes, with a street value of $138.6 million. Darkei was indicted for allegedly paying $3,000 to a detective sergeant to facilitate his escape. According to the facts of the case, about midnight on April 26, 2006, a vessel, the MV Benjamin, reportedly carrying about 77 parcels of cocaine, with each parcel weighing 30 kilogrammes, docked at Kpone/Tema and discharged the cocaine. The said 77 parcels, according to the facts, were offloaded into a waiting vehicle which carried them away. The prosecution said in the course of investigations, Darkei’s name featured prominently as the importer and/or owner of the drug. He was said to be the person who had chartered the vessel at a cost of $150,000 to tow another vessel from Guinea to Ghana. The disappearance of the cocaine led to the setting up of the Georgina Wood Committee and the subsequent trial of persons alleged to have played various roles in the disappearance. In July 2008, an Accra Fast Track High Court, presided over by Mr Justice Anin Yeboah (now a Supreme Court judge ), convicted and sentenced Joseph Kojo Dawson, the owner of the MV Benjamin and Managing Director of Dashment Company Limited; Isaac Arhin, a sailor; Phillip Bruce Arhin, a mechanic; Cui Xian Li, the vessel engineer, and Luo Yui Xing, a sailor, all crew members of the MV Benjamin, to 25 years in prison with hard labour. Bruce-Arhin, however, died barely three weeks after his conviction. The convicts, including the deceased, were found guilty on charges of using property for narcotic offences, engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotics and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority. A sixth accused person, Pak Bok Sil, a Korean, was, on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, acquitted and discharged by the court, which ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove a case against him. Following the committee’s recommendations, Kwabena Amaning, alias Tagor, and Alhaji Issah were tried on November 28, 2007 and sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment each with hard labour for conspiracy and engaging in prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs. However, they were released on July 25, 2009 when they appealed against the High Court’s decision.