An Accra Circuit Court has remanded three persons into lawful custody over the alleged concealment of 866 slabs of substances suspected to be cocaine in bags of gari and cassava powder at the Tema Main Harbour.
The accused are Delano Owen, 31, a Dutch national, John Mensah Sarbah, 41, a clearing agent and Alhaji Iddrisu Haruna, 52, a transporter.
They have been charged with conspiracy to commit unlawful control of narcotic drugs, unlawful control of narcotic drugs, and prohibited business relating to narcotic drugs.
The three pleaded not guilty to all charges when they appeared before the court, presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah.
Their lawyers applied for bail, but the applications were opposed by the prosecution and subsequently refused by the court.
Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Emmanuel Haligah, who led the prosecution, told the court that investigations into the case were still ongoing and urged the court to consider the nature of the charges against the accused.
According to the prosecution, the complainants, who are police officers stationed at the Tema Regional Criminal Investigations Department, acted on intelligence on August 5, 2026.
At about 7:30 p.m., the officers proceeded to the Golden Suvineur warehouse at the Main Harbour in Tema, where they arrested the three accused persons over their alleged involvement in narcotic drug activities.
The court heard that the accused persons were allegedly loading white sacks containing gari and cassava powder from the warehouse into a DAF truck with registration number WR 1118-10.
A search of the bags allegedly uncovered 866 slabs of substances suspected to be narcotics concealed among the food products.
The prosecution further told the court that during interrogation, Holwin allegedly admitted ownership of the substances and claimed that Haruna and Sarbah were assisting him to export the drugs to London, United Kingdom.
The suspected narcotics have since been forwarded to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination and a formal report.
ASP Haligah told the court that investigations were continuing.
The court subsequently remanded the three accused persons into lawful custody.
