Cocaine shipment case adjourned to November 5 over application to remove GRA staff from charge sheet

The Kwabenya Circuit Court has adjourned the criminal case involving six persons accused of facilitating the shipment of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine from Ghana to France to November 5, 2026, to hear an application seeking to remove the sixth accused from the charge sheet.

The application was filed by Helena Akua Denkyi, a contract staff member of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), who is standing trial alongside five others for abetment of crime, specifically the exportation of narcotic drugs.

At Tuesday's hearing, lawyers for Ms Denkyi informed the court that they had filed the application on September 30 and served it on the prosecution. However, the prosecution had yet to file an affidavit in opposition.

The court was also informed that it had not been notified of the application since it was filed.

The presiding judge subsequently adjourned the matter to November 5 to allow the application to be moved.

Ms Denkyi and three other GRA staff members are accused of scanning the container in which the cocaine was concealed, identifying its contents as suspicious but failing to flag it for further action.

The case follows the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine by French customs authorities at the northern French port of Dunkirk on September 10, 2026.

The consignment, estimated to have a street value of €225 million, was concealed in a container carrying plastic waste that had arrived from Ghana. Part of the shipment was reportedly destined for Antwerp, Belgium.

Following the seizure, the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) announced the arrest of three suspects in Ghana over their alleged involvement in the shipment.

According to NACOC, the suspects were alleged to have represented and facilitated the activities of Dutch fugitive Jos Leijdekkers, popularly known as “Bolle Jos”, in Ghana.

Meanwhile, President John Dramani Mahama has received a preliminary report on investigations into the cocaine shipment, following the seizure of the consignment valued at more than $200 million in France.

The Commissioner-General of the GRA, Anthony Sarpong, disclosed this when he appeared before Parliament's Public Accounts Committee (PAC).