Accused seeks removal from 3.9-tonne cocaine trial

The Kwabenya Circuit Court has adjourned to November 5 an application seeking to strike out one of six accused persons standing trial in the alleged 3.9-tonne cocaine case.

The application was filed by Helena Akua Denkyi, a contract staff member of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who is the sixth accused person in the case.

Her counsel told the court that she filed the application on September 30, 2026, and served it on the Office of the Attorney-General, along with a hearing notice.

The lawyer said the court had not received an affidavit in opposition to the application.

Mr Prince Osei Owusu, the presiding judge, noted that the application had been filed several weeks earlier but was brought to the court’s attention only at the latest sitting.

The court said it needed time to consider the application and adjourned proceedings to November 5, 2026, for a ruling.

The judge also indicated that the substantive prosecutor was not in a position to respond to bail applications and other requests filed by defence counsel.

On bail, the court directed defence lawyers to file formal applications instead of making oral requests.

Chief Inspector Godwin T. Achondo, leading the prosecution, informed the court that the prosecution was filing the necessary disclosures and requested a one-month adjournment.

Lawyers for the accused persons argued that filing the disclosures suggested investigations had been completed and renewed calls for bail for their clients.

The court had earlier dismissed bail applications filed on behalf of the six accused persons.

The accused are Francis Narh Amanor, a freight forwarder; Frank Adu-Boahen, a self-styled evangelist; Togbe Agbeti; Andrews Tetteh Amponsah; Daniel Laryea; and Helena Akua Denkyi, all public servants except the first two.

Amanor and Adu-Boahen have been charged with conspiracy to commit crime, namely the exportation of narcotic drugs, and exportation of narcotic drugs.

The prosecution alleged that they conspired to export 3.9 tonnes of suspected narcotic substances in four containers from the Tema Port to the Netherlands without a licence from the Minister of Health.

Agbeti, Amponsah, Laryea, and Denkyi face charges of abetment of crime.

They are alleged to have failed to properly analyse abnormal scan images of the four containers, thereby facilitating the attempted exportation of the suspected narcotic substances.

The six accused persons remain in custody and are expected to reappear before the court on November 5, 2026.

Four other accused persons in a related case have also been remanded by the High Court.

In all, 10 persons have been arraigned following the interception of the alleged narcotic substances at Tema Port on August 12, 2026.