Christian Asem Dake alias Limping Man, the alleged brain behind the importation of the 77 cocaine parcels in the infamous MV Benjamin Vessel, was yesterday remanded in police custody for the second time by an Accra Circuit Court.
The accused person, also known as Sheriff, denied any wrongdoing when charged with conspiracy to commit crime, possessing narcotic drugs without lawful authority and importing narcotic drugs without licence.
The case was adjourned after the prosecuting officer, DSP A.A. Annor, prayed the court presided over by Audrey Kocuvie-Tay to adjourn the case because investigations were still on-going
The accused person, who looked unwell, entered the dock when his name was mentioned and leaned on the edge of the dock till the case was adjourned to March 7, 2012.
Counsel for the accused person, George Heward-Mills, said it was incumbent on the court to grant an accused person bail in the likely event that an accused person would not be tried within a reasonable time. According to him, the issue of the 77missing parcels of cocaine remained a mirage because nobody either saw the parcels or where they got missing.
Counsel said the accused person was arrested at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where he had undergone surgery and was yet to have a meeting with him because he had been to the Bureau of National Investigations and waited for hours without seeing him.
He said the constitution guaranteed the right to freedom so if the prosecution had not concluded its investigations it had no business arraigning his client.
Mr. Heward-Mills told the court that if the accused person was granted bail, he would not abscond, but make himself available for trial.
DSP Annor however stated that in narcotic cases, granting of bail was not allowed and prayed the court not to grant bail but have Asem remanded till they were able to conclude investigations.
Mrs. Kocuvie-Tay told the prosecuting officer that he could not hide behind the law to keep an accused person continuously remanded and told the DSP to expedite action for the trial to begin.
DSP A.A. Annor, who presented the facts of the case, told the court that on 26th 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.
He said around midnight the same day, the said vessel docked at Tema/Kpone and discharged the 77 parcels which were offloaded into a waiting vehicle and taken away.
According to him, 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, the name of Asem Dake featured prominently as the importer and owner of the 77 parcels.
He noted that investigations also revealed that Limping Man chattered the vessel at the cost of $150,000 and used to it bring another vessel carrying the narcotic drugs from Guinea, which were then offloaded into MV Benjamin on the high seas.
In addition, he said, the accused person reportedly carted the 77 parcels from the vessel on its arrival at Kpone.
He said on Thursday, February 2, 2012, Asem Dake was arrested at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital upon a tip-off and consequently arraigned.
DAILY GUIDE, a few weeks ago, broke the story about the arrest of Sheriff at the X-Ray Department of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital last week.
The police picked him up and handed him over to the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI) who commenced investigations into the big catch whose elusion for such a long time boggled minds.
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