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Two fishermen believed to have been hired by Christian Sheriff Asem Dake, alias Limping Man, to offload the 77 cocaine parcels from the MV Benjamin Vessel at Kpone, Tema, yesterday testified against him in chambers. Sheriff is facing five charges before an Accra Fast Track High Court for the alleged importation of the 77 parcels which have since landed eight persons in jail. The evidence in chambers comes on the heels of an application filed by the chief state attorney in the case, Yvonne Obuobisa, before a court presided over Justice Habib Logoh. The reason given by the state for applying to have the evidence of witnesses in chambers was that the case was sensitive and evidence given in an open court could endanger their lives. The trial judge allowed the application yesterday and the trial took place in his chambers in the presence of the accused person and his lawyer, George Heward-Mills. The case has been adjourned to June 7, 2012. After more than an hour, the state attorney came out of the courtroom but was tight-lipped about what took place in the chambers when the press tried to find out what had happened. The accused person has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit crime, importation of narcotic drugs without lawful authority, possession of narcotic drugs without license, dealing in prohibited business and corruption of public officer. Mrs. Obuobisa, who presented the facts of the case, told the court that in early April, 2006, the accused person hired the MV Benjamin Vessel from its owner in Tema to cart the 77 parcels of cocaine, each weighing 30 kilograms, from Guinea. She noted that on 26 April, 2006, intelligence gathered indicated that a shipping vessel called MV Benjamin was on the high seas carrying about 77 parcels of cocaine and heading towards the West African Coast, specifically Ghana. Around midnight the same day, the said vessel docked at Tema /Kpone and Asem Dake got some fishermen to help him discharge the cocaine. Some police officers who had been tipped off about the drugs went to the scene to arrest the accused person but later let him off the hook after he gave them some dollars. The accused person went ahead and offloaded the 77 parcels into a waiting vehicle and bolted with them. According to her, investigations led to the arrest of a number of persons who were put before various courts, tried and convicted to various prison terms. The prosecutor stated that during the course of the trials of the suspects, Asem Dake�s name featured prominently as the importer and owner of the 77 parcels. Investigations also revealed that Limping Man chartered the vessel at a cost of $150,000 and used it to ferry another vessel carrying the narcotic drugs from Guinea and the drugs were then offloaded into MV Benjamin on the high seas. She said on Thursday, February 2, 2012, Asem Dake was arrested at Korle-bu Hospital upon a tip off and consequently arraigned. She indicated that she would file an application for the prosecution witness� evidence to be held in camera. George Heward-Mills, counsel for Limping Man, complained that his client was not getting enough food in cells and prayed the court to order that he should be properly fed. He also said getting access to his client was a problem and prayed the court to properly remand him into prison custody. Counsel prayed for bail for his client and accused the prosecution of always adjourning the case. Mr. Heward-Mills told the court that the constitution allowed for an accused person to be tried within reasonable time, otherwise the person could be discharged. However the judge refused to grant the accused person bail but had him remanded into prison custody.