Parcels content not cocaine — Police

Story:Albert K. Salia & Abigail Efua Rockson
EIGHTEEN bible-shaped parcels believed to be cocaine that were retrieved from an abandoned Opel Astra vehicle by the Tema police are said to be parcels of sand, corn flour and starch.
The parcels were found hidden in the boot of the Opel Astra vehicle with registration number GW 3757 W, parked behind the Black Star Line building in Tema.
The acting Director of Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kwesi Ofori, told the press in Accra yesterday that tests conducted by the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) on August 28, 2007 on the parcels submitted to it by the Organised Crime Unit of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) showed negative for cocaine.
He said it was established that the parcels were so packaged to look like cocaine but turned out to be sand, corn flour and starch.
He said the police believed it was a scam.
When DSP Ofori was asked to read a quote from the GSB report which described the content of the parcels as starch, sand and corn flour, he said the report was not available.
DSP Ofori said investigations would, however, still continue into the matter to enable the police to determine what was behind the scam.
According to him, investigations at the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) showed that the registration number of the vehicle was fake.
As to whether the police had met the informant since then, the Tema Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) John Kudalor, said the police had been eager to meet the informant but without success.
He said although the informant had called twice to meet the District Commander, he failed to show up.
He said that had made the police to believe that the whole deal was a scam.