An Accra circuit court has granted GH¢13 million bail with four sureties to four persons accused of attempting to transport suspected cocaine at Kotoka International Airport (KIA)’s Swissport cargo terminal.
All sureties must be civil servants earning at least GH¢5,000 monthly, with one required to justify with landed property worth at least GH¢1 million
Gariba Soli, Josiah Biney, Emmanuel Minta, and Kwabena Ampofo Anti are also charged with conspiracy to commit a crime and possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Presiding Judge Sedinam Awo Kwadam ordered the Narcotics Control Commission to take their biodata and submit it to passport offices nationwide, prohibiting them from acquiring passports.
The court also barred them from leaving the jurisdiction without its approval.
Those holding passports must surrender them to the court registrar, and all have been placed on a stop list at air, sea, and land exit points.
They must report to the Narcotics Control Commission twice a week.
The case was adjourned to June 18, 2025.
Soli, an artefact dealer at the Art Exhibition Centre in Accra, and Biney, Minta, and Ampofo Anti, all freight forwarders at Ansahdys Shipping and Logistics at Kotoka International Airport, were arrested following a narcotics bust.
According to Ghana News Agency sources, on April 23, 2025, officers at Swissport Cargo Terminal’s export section intercepted three wooden boxes bound for Brussels, suspecting them of concealing narcotics.
The boxes, destined for the Netherlands, initially contained assorted wooden artefacts with no incriminating items.
However, upon scanning the emptied boxes, false compartments were detected, holding 73 compressed slabs of suspected narcotics.
A sampled slab tested positive for cocaine.
All four suspects were arrested and taken to NACOC Headquarters for investigation.
During preliminary interrogation, they denied knowledge of the narcotics.
Soli, acting as the shipper, claimed he had been engaged by one Patrick to export the artefacts to the Netherlands.
He said he worked with Patrick’s Ghana-based representatives, Onik and Imex, since January 2025.
Soli disclosed that Onik delivered the three wooden boxes to him at the Art Exhibition Centre.
He, along with his colleagues, loaded the boxes with wooden artefacts, sealed them with nails, and sent them to Swissport on April 14, 2025.
The packages remained with the shipping agents until he was invited to witness their examination, leading to his arrest.
The drug exhibit will be sent to the Ghana Standards Authority for analytical testing and reporting.
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