Wednesday, September 10, 2008

DRUG PEDDLER JAILED 10 YEARS (PAGE 35)

A FORTY-TWO-YEAR old drug peddler has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour by the Duayaw Nkwanta Circuit Court in the Tano North District for possessing narcotic drugs (wee).
The convict, Isaac Mensah, who pleaded guilty to the offence, was sentenced on his own plea by the court presided over by Mr Justice Amo Yartey.
The convict pleaded with the court to pardon him since he earned his living through the sale of the “wee” and used part of the proceeds to cater for his family.
However, after listening to the convict, the presiding judge said there were so many decent jobs that he could engage in rather than the illicit drug business.
Mr Justice Yartey, therefore, decided to give the convict a stiffer punishment to serve as a deterrent to other drug dealers in the country.
The facts of the case as given by the prosecution were that the convict was arrested by the police with six maxi bags of ‘dried leaves’ (which have since been confirmed by the Police Forensic Laboratory in Accra as cannabis) on the Bechem-Tepa road in May, this year. The convict was transporting the ‘stuff’ from Sunyani to Tepa on board a cargo truck with registration number GT 9723 T when it was stopped by the police on duty at the Bechem-Tepa Junction road.
When the vehicle was searched, six maxi bags of ‘dried leaves’ were found concealed in it. The convict claimed ownership of the stuff and told the police that he was sending it to Tepa for sale to the general public as that was his only source of income.
The police, therefore, arrested him and after investigations, he was charged with the offence

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