Police Grab Suspected Principal Architect

“I AM now tired of running. Everywhere I went, your people were on me.”

These were the words of Craig Alexander Pininick, a British national suspected to be the principal architect in the 588.33 kilogrammes cocaine case, when he was finally arrested in a neighbouring country last week after a six-month search.

Pinnick, who had been globetrotting to avoid arrest, is said to be among six other accused persons involved in the importation of the narcotic drug. The drug has a street value of $140 million.

The others, Kevin D. Gorman, a 59-year-old American, Mohammed Ibrahim Kamil, a Ghanaian car dealer, David J. Logan, 43, Frank D. Laverick, 43, Alan Hodgson, 45, all Britons, and Sven Herb, 45, a German, are currently on remand at the Nsawam Medium Security Prisons.

Pinnick, who is the owner of Captain's Lodge at the Prampram Beach, allegedly escaped arrest after his gang was busted on January 7, 2004, after two years of intensive investigations into its operations.

Officials of the Narcotics Control Board at the weekend posted seizure notices on Captain's Lodge.

Pinnick, who first travelled to Togo, moved on to Benin, Britain and France, before his arrest in another West African country which does not want its name to be mentioned.

A highly-placed official at the Narcotics Control Board said since his escape, the board had been collaborating with its external agencies, as well as INTERPOL, to track down the suspect.

It said the suspect left Ghana on March 23, 2004 and had been going round the various countries when he got to know the security agencies were trailing him.

The source said Pinnick and Sven Herb were responsible for carting the cocaine from the high seas to Prampram and later to Tema.

Touching on the seizure notice, the source explained that 30 days after the posting of the notice, the board would apply to the court for its confiscation. It said the suspect was currently in custody, pending trial.