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US $1bn cocaine case enters crucial stage
Wednesday, 15 September 2010 01:16
By Abdoulie JohnAfter months of battle of procedure, the trial of the 12 foreign nationals linked with 2 tons drug seizure in Gambia entered a crucial stage, Tuesday, with the commencement of testimony by prosecution star witness.
The Banjul Magistrate’s Court was stormed by a mammoth crowd to see the proceedings.
Tuesday’s hearing followed major amendments of the charge sheet made by the prosecution. Consequently, 9 out of 12 suspects will now have to face 10 counts ranging from “conspiracy to trafficking in prohibited drugs”, to “importation of firearms without valid license”. The remaining three accused persons are being charged with possession of prohibited drugs for trafficking.
Such a development certainly prompted the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Richard Chenge and his deputy M. Abdullahi to take full charge of the case as the trial moves to a decisive phase…
In giving his testimony, Modou Lamin Kebbeh, who is the Alkalo (village head) of Bonto, the settlement where the 2 tons of cocaine were uncovered by the country’s anti-narcotics officers, informed the court that everything centered on the key accused person, Rudy Rasoel Hamid Ghazi.
According to him, Mr. Ghazi, a Hollandish, was instrumental in requesting a piece of land from the villagers in order to build a warehouse for their “fishing products”.
“He told us that he needed a space near the beach. When we accepted the project he was so happy that he generously built an Arabic school for the villagers,” Mr Kebbeh said.
The reason why he gave his consent to the initiative, the Alkalo said, is based on expectation of job opportunity creation by the project for the people of the area. But, he added, he was astonished by the news concerning the discovery of the enormous quantity of drugs not more than 2 months after the completion of the warehouse construction.
Asked by the prosecution whether he was aware of the underground structure that was been built there, the village head replied that the first accused person and two of his accomplices (one of whom, Pepe, is presently at large) initially told him it was meant to serve as a fuel depot…before they decided to turn it into an ET bed (commonly referred to as sucker way). The prosecution star witness told the court that at one pint they realized that water was running out of the underground facility and, apparently to divert their attention, the accused built two toilets on the spot – one for male and the other for female - and an office; hence the ‘sucker way’ explanation.
“When we went there, we realized that the security personnel have already taken away the 2, 040 kilogrammes of cocaine,” he said.
While cross-examining the prosecution’s first witness, Defense Lawyer Lamin Camara made a brilliant attempt to turn the witness’ testimony to his advantage.
“Is it correct that you and Pepe are very good friends? Is it also correct that you lived in Barcelona, Spain, where Pepe originated from?” Needless to say that at this juncture, the court room was electrified by the defense consul’s series of questions…
“When Pepe came and realized that I speak Spanish, he got interested in chatting with me,” said an Alkalo who was nearly KO by the defense counsel’s punching questions…
After turning down the defense’s application for the production of three statements made by the witness before the NIA panel of investigation, the presiding magistrate adjourned the hearing until Thursday 16 September, 2010 for continuation…
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