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I received 25 slabs of cocaine – Witness

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Detective Chief Inspector Charles Adaba, the investigator in the MV Benjamin cocaine saga, Monday told the Accra Fast Track High Court that he received only 25 slabs of cocaine from the original investigator at the time he took over investigations in the matter. Testifying under cross-examination by Mr George Heward-Mills, counsel for Christian Asem Darkey, the investigator denied that five of 30 slabs in the parcel left on board the vessel had been taken away before Detective Inspector Justice Oppong of the Accra Regional CID, the original investigator, handed over the case to him. He said although investigations established that there were 77 parcels of cocaine on board the vessel, only one parcel was left and that he did not see all the 77 parcels or identified the 76 parcels that were taken away. Earlier in his evidence-in-chief, Chief Inspector Adaba had tendered documents relating to the ownership of a Toyota Land Cruiser, with registration number GT 21 W, and a Daewoo saloon car, with number GW 2932 V, and indicated that the Land Cruiser belonged to Darkey, who used it to secure a loan of GH¢25,000 (¢250 million) from UT Financial Services on December 21, 2005. Documents on the loan, which was repaid on May 4, 2006, were tendered in evidence by the witness. The witness also said the owner of the Daewoo saloon was one J.P. Park Sung, alias Killer. According to the witness, Darkey contracted the loan in the name of his fishing company, Atico Fishing Company Limited, which had Nene Asem Darkey and Yon-Jon Lee as the managing director and director, respectively. He also tendered in evidence the statement taken from Isaac Arhin (now deceased), one of the fishermen said to have tipped off the police and who was sentenced to jail but died in prison. The accused person, who went into hiding from 2006 until February 2, 2012, was arrested by BNI officials at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital upon a tip off. Darkey was indicted for allegedly paying $3,000 to a detective sergeant to facilitate his escape. He is facing counts of conspiracy, possession, importation and exportation of narcotic drugs and corruption of a public officer, to all of which he has pleaded not guilty.

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.