The Accra High Court has sentenced Kwadwo Ofosu, a man who was arrested at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA) for swallowing pellets of narcotic drugs to 10 years in prison.
Mr Ofosu was arrested at the airport after he confessed to the Narcotics Control Commission officers.
He was charged with seven counts which comprised two counts of possession of narcotics drug weighing 594.8 grams (Count 1) and 411.6 grams, (Count 2), two counts of attempted exportation of narcotics drug, (Counts 3&4), a count of bribery of a public official with an amount of 300 euros (Count 6) and two counts of conspiracy to export narcotics drugs, (Counts 7&8).
The court after listening to the plea of mitigation from the defense lawyers led by Lawyer Paul Abariga and the non-opposition from the prosecution led by Watkins Adamah, a State Attorney the court handed the convict with the minimum punishment.
In addition to the custodial sentence, Kwadwo Ofosu, who changed his earlier not guilty plea to guilty, will pay a fine of 10,000 penalty units equivalent to GH₵120,000.
The accused was convicted on his own plea by the Criminal Division of the Accra High Court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo.
The court explained that per the charges, the minimum punishment for a fine ranges from not less than 10,000 penalty units (GH₵120k) and not more than 25000 penalty units (GH₵300k).
The court said that the punishment also includes an additional custodial sentence between 10 years and 25 years.
The court then sentenced the accused to a fine of 10,000 penalty units and a 10-year custodial sentence on each of the seven charges.
The court also added that all the sentences on the seven charges are to run concurrently meaning, the convict will only pay a GHc120,000 fine and serve 10 years for all the 7 charges he admitted.
