Tema, Ghana - Officials of the Narcotics Control Board
(NACOB) have made the largest seizure of cocaine in recent years at the
Tema Harbour.
The drug, estimated to be 200 kg, with a
street value of $12 million, was concealed in a 40-footer container
filled with 1,946 boxes of shampoo imported from Bolivia in South
America.
The owner of the drug is believed to be Chief Sunny
Ekechukwu Benji Eke, a 53-year-old Nigerian businessman. He has been
arrested together with another accomplice, James Elekechukwu (47), a
second-hand clothing dealer in Accra.
Chief Eke was described by
international law enforcement agencies as a notorious drug baron who had
been involved in several drug seizures in Brazil and Bolivia.
According
to the Deputy Executive Secretary of NACOB, Nii Lante Blankson, the
success of the operation was the result of co-operation among the
security agencies in the country.
He said in December last year,
NACOB, through its foreign counterparts, received intelligence that a
cargo said to contain a quantity of cosmetics was heading to the Tema
Harbour from Bolivia and was suspected to contain some narcotic
substances.
He said on January 29, 2013, the said cargo, which was
shipped in a 40-footer container number MRK 257478-45 GI belonging to
the MAESRK Shipping Lines and consigned to the De Consumables Lines
Limited, docked at the Tema Harbour and officers of NACOB who were on
standby immediately mounted surveillance on it.
After almost two
weeks, a clearing agent arrived with the necessary documents to clear
the goods and he was arrested to assist in investigations.
Nii
Blankson said inspection of the documents revealed that the cargo was
built to contain 22 pallets of assorted cosmetics but during physical
examination, 1,946 cartons were found, with 33 of them containing 198
yellow bottles of cocaine, while 29 contained 174 green bottles of
cocaine.
The container was later traced to Elekechukwu, who was arrested at his residence at Aplaku Junction, near Weija.
Upon interrogation, Elekechukwu told NACOB officials that the real owner of the goods was Chief Eke.
Elekechukwu said Chief Eke was his classmate and friend and that he [Elekechukwu]
had been living in Ghana for the past 20 years, while Chief Eke had
been visiting Ghana frequently for the past two years to conduct
business.
Elekechukwu said anytime Chief Eke arrived in Ghana, he
picked the chief up from the Kotoka International Airport and checked
him into hotels.
He explained that in 2011, Chief Eke informed him
about his desire to register a company in Ghana to sell cosmetic
products, noting that he assisted the chief to register the De
Consumables Company at the Registrar-General's Department using fake
documents.
Elekechukwu said some time in December 2012, Chief Eke
returned to Ghana, as usual, with import documents of his cargo of
cosmetic products which he claimed was on the high seas and would arrive
at the Tema Port some time in January 2013.
The two Nigerians
then went to the Tema Harbour and handed over the documents to the
clearing agent and advanced some money for the clearance of the goods
and thereafter Chief Eke returned to Nigeria.
Mr Blankson said it
took the NACOB over one week of controlled operation to lure Chief Eke
back into the country for his arrest at the Accra Shopping Mall where he
had scheduled a meeting with Elekechukwu and the clearing agent.
He had in his possession four Nigerian passports with different names.
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