6 Ruby Cocaine Gang For Trial

An Accra Circuit Court yesterday refused to grant bail to the six suspects arrested in connection with the exportation of 12.5kg of cocaine to the United Kingdom (UK) by Nayele Ametefeh aka Ruby Adu-Gyamfi. The suspects being held at the instance of the prosecution are Abiel Ashitey Armah, Foreign Service Officer in-charge of the VVIP Lounge at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA); Ahmed Abubakar, Protocol Officer and Theophilius Kissi, a civil servant. They have all been charged for allegedly aiding Ruby to smuggle cocaine to the UK. Also in the dock are Sadala Nuhu and Nana Akua Amponsah, both businesswomen who the prosecution said had travelled with Ruby but managed to escape from London and came back to Accra the same day (she) Ruby was arrested at the Heathrow Airport in London. They are facing a charge of conspiracy together with Alhaji Dawood Mohammed, a businessman, who was said to have facilitated the use of the VVIP by the three ladies. The court had on Monday fixed December 12 to decide on whether or not to grant applications for bail moved by their lawyers. Joint Ruling However, at the trial yesterday, the court presided over by Francis Obiri, decided to deliver a joint ruling because the case was related and accordingly rejected the granting of bail. He said the prosecution must do everything possible for the trial to begin on December 22, 2014. While expressing sympathy for the accused persons, Judge Obiri was emphatic that the issue of granting of bail was notabout sympathy but rather the dispensation of the law. Bailable Offences According to Mr. Obiri, the offences for which the accused person had been arraigned before the court are bailable, but he was still declining bail for them because the prosecution was still investigating the matter. He said per the submissions from the prosecution, it meant that they needed more time to conclude their investigations and urged them to speed up. �Granting bail today will not help the state in conducting its investigations,� he said. �I decline the invitation extended to the court by the counsel to grant bail.� Disappointment Frank Davies, counsel for Abiel Ashitey Armah, who sounded pretty disappointed at the ruling, said from the look of things the judge had wanted to grant bail but refused because of the prosecution. He wondered if the defence lawyers would be coming to court again to take another date or whether the trial would begin. Aiding And Abetting The six persons, including Sadala Nuhu and Nana Akua Amponsah, who are said to be accomplices of Ruby Adu-Gyamfi, have been charged variously for aiding and abetting the drug baroness who used the highly restricted VVIP section of the Kotoka International Airport to board the BA078 flight to London. Sentencing Ruby Adu-Gyamfi is currently being held at Her Majesty�s Bronzefield Prison in the UK after pleading guilty on the first day of the Isleworth Crown Court proceedings and is due for sentencing on January 5, 2015. The accused persons have variously pleaded not guilty and are currently in the custody of the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI