Drug courier dies in custody

Front Page: Daily Graphic, August 15, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A SUSPECTED drug courier died at the Police Hospital on Thursday when some of the drugs in his stomach burst.
He had been in police custody for three days after he had been arrested at the Kotoka International Airport.
Before he died, Dansoko Sekouba, who was travelling on a Guinean passport from Afghanistan, had expelled 55 pellets of 1.3 kilograms of heroin he had swallowed.
The deceased was among nine suspected drug couriers arrested by officials of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) at the Kotoka International Airport between July 18 and August 10, 2009.
The others currently in custody are Luckins Atiagaga, Camara Souleymana, Bah Mohammed, Peter Onwa Ekwene, Daniel Kabutey, Mohammed Iddrisu, Mohammed Mustapha and Benedict Onwuka.
Three others — Irene Appiah Tawiah aka Rubby Appiah, a businesswoman at Achimota; Sarko Fuseini, a security guard of Aviation Security; and Jonas Mantey, a cleaner at the Akwaaba Lounge of the airport — are currently on the run.
Briefing newsmen in Accra on Friday, the Executive Secretary of NACOB, Mr Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, said when Dansoko was arrested on August 10, 2009, he denied carrying any drugs on him but because of intelligence on him, NACOB decided to put him under observation.
Prior to that, he said, NACOB officials arrested Mohammed Iddrisu and Mohammed Mustapha, who had come to welcome Dansoko and take him to a hotel in Accra.
He said Dansoko later admitted to officials of NACOB that he had swallowed a number of pellets of heroin totalling 1.3 kilogrammes.
Mr Akrasi Sarpong said while under investigation, Dansoko expelled 52 pellets until at about 3a.m. on August 13, 2009 when he complained of stomach ache.
He said the suspect was rushed to the Police Hospital where he was pronounced dead at about 11a.m. on Thursday.
With regards to Luckins Atiagaga, who is said to be a Kenyan, NACOB officials at the airport arrested the suspect on July 18, 2009 after it was detected that he had concealed dry leaves suspected to be Indian hemp in 75 cakes of toilet soap.
He said the suspect then wrapped the soap with the cover of Premium soap in two travelling bags to avoid detection.
On Camara Souleymane and Bah Mamadou, Mr Akrasi Sarpong said the suspects were arrested on August 1, 2009 while on their way from Afghanistan.
He said although the two suspects denied carrying drugs, Camara expelled 16 pellets of suspected heroin while Bah expelled 37 pellets after they were put under observation.
He said Peter Onwa Ekwene, who had come to meet the suspects at the airport, was also arrested.
With regard to Daniel Kabutey, the Executive Secretary said at about 2am on August 2, 2009, some officials of the Aviation Security spotted Kabutey and Jonas Mantey, pushing a dust bin truck towards the Akwaaba Lounge.
He said when the security officials conducted a search to know what was in the dust bin, they found a black polythene bag containing a whitish substance suspected to be cocaine.
Mr Akrasi Sarpong said the suspects immediately took to their heels but were chased by officials of Aviation Security resulting in the arrest of Kabutey while Jonas escaped.
According to him, Kabutey then mentioned Sarko Fuseini and Rubby Appiah, a former resident in Germany, as their accomplices.
He said Jonas, Fuseini and Rubby were currently on the run.
On Benedict Onwuka, Mr Akrasi Sarpong said the suspect was arrested on August 11, 2009 and he expelled 33 pellets while under investigation.
He expressed appreciation to members of the public who provided such information on couriers.
Mr Akrasi Sarpong pledged that NACOB was working behind the scenes to apprehend the drug barons who were responsible for sponsoring the drug couriers.
He expressed worry about the activities of some lawyers who often tried to impede investigations by claiming that impounding property of suspected drug dealers was abuse of the suspect’s rights.
Mr Akrasi Sarpong urged such lawyers to study the NACOB law before taking any action.
He commended staff of NACOB for their hard work and commitment in the fight against narcotic drugs in the face of poor working conditions.
He gave the assurance that things would soon improve for them and urged them to sustain the fight.