Two More Drug Barons Picked

Two more kingpins in the narcotics underworld,Henry Kwaku Owusu, 47 and Emmanuel Adjavon, 33, have hit a dead end.

Owusu was deported to Ghana on parole in June 2000 after serving nearly four years out of a seven-year jail term in a British prison for drug pushing while Adjavon,a freight forwarder is believed to have facilitated the exports.

Back home,Owusu perfected the trade,and between October last year and July this year,he succeeded in exporting 500 kilogrammes of cannabis and 50 kilogrammes of cocaine, adopting false company and individual names.

Sources within the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB),which grabbed Owusu at the Bigot Pub, near the Abrantie Spot at Abeka Lapaz at 11.30 p.m. last Friday, described him as the man around whom the concealment of illicit drugs in exportable agricultural products to the United Kingdom (UK) had been revolving since last October.

A freight forwarder, Emmanuel Adjavon, 33, who is believed to have facilitated the exports, is also in the grips of NACOB.

At the time and place of the arrests, some drug couriers and dealers who were on police enquiry or court bails were said to be present.

The subdued Owusu wept and pleaded with the photographer of the Daily Graphic not to have his picture taken.

In his final adventure last May 17, 2005, the suspect used the name Kwabena Asante, c/o Amadpah Enterprises, as the exporter of yams from Aviance Agence at the Kotoka International Airport in which he concealed some illicit drugs in the boxes.

In another export using the Tema Port, he used Ama Dapaah Enterprises and concealed cocaine in yams and cocoyams which he exported to the UK.

All the company names he had so far used in the transactions had been found to be non-existent. Owusu also used both the Tema Harbour and the Aviance Agence,with the aid of some freight forwarders and cargo clerks,to commit the crimes which attracted concerns from the UK government.

Ghana was compelled to act swiftly on the issue because it was becoming too alarming.A source at NACOB told the Graphic yesterday that following the complaints, the National Security Co-ordinator,Mr Francis Poku, directed that investigations be intensified from all angles to apprehend the perpetrators of the offence which was embarrassing the government of Ghana.

It said the exercise started in October last year,during which some clearing agents and freight forwarders were arrested at Aviance Agence to assist in investigations.

It said two freight forwarding firms,Simpleway and TopExpress,highly suspected in the deals,were suspended from operating in the area and had since not been allowed to operate.

The source said it was during the initial investigations that Owusu's name came up as the person who had been soliciting the assistance of some people at the airport to export the vegetables and yams.

It said since then the suspect had been playing hide-and-seek with NACOB officials,ostensibly because someone might have hinted him that he was being sought after.

Luck,it said,however,ran out for Owusu,who also owns a washing bay on the Kwashieman-Awoshie road in Accra,when the officials of NACOB went to the Bigot Pub.