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A Circuit Court in Tema has sentenced two police officers to a total of 13 years in prison for unlawful possession and conspiracy to traffic narcotics.
The court, presided over by Her Lordship Aleanor Kakra Barnes Botchway, convicted Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Nasiru Amadu and Corporal Emmanuel Mintah after nearly four years of proceedings.
According to the prosecution, led by ASP Ernest Kuofie, the case began in 2023 when an officer at the Afienya District Police Command reported suspicious behaviour involving the two officers. At the time, Amadu, 48, served as the second-in-command at the Sakumono District Police Headquarters, while Mintah, 43, worked under him as a service driver.
On November 19, 2023, officers on snap-check duty received intelligence that a Nissan Navara pickup with registration GP 727 was transporting narcotics from Ho to Accra. At about 7:15 p.m., the two officers approached the checkpoint and were stopped. A search of their vehicle uncovered eight sacks containing 541 compressed parcels of substances suspected to be narcotics.
Further investigations revealed that Mintah had links to a known narcotics dealer in Ashaiman Tulaku, nicknamed “Oluman.” On the day of their arrest, Mintah had been hired to transport Indian hemp from Peki Tsibu in the Volta Region to Tulaku. He subsequently contacted Amadu, who later engaged directly with the dealer to finalize the arrangement.
The officers then drove the police vehicle from Sakumono to a forest near Peki Tsibu, where they collected the drugs from a waiting Benz bus. It was later determined that this was their second involvement in such illegal activity.
The seized exhibits were confirmed by the Forensic Crime Laboratory. The court ruled that the officers unlawfully possessed narcotics for trafficking, contravening Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, and Section 37(2)(b) of the Narcotic Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).
Amadu and Mintah received sentences of 10 years and 5 years respectively, to run concurrently. They were also fined 10,000 penalty units, equivalent to GH₵120,000. Failure to pay the fine will attract an additional three-year prison term each.
