In a heated court session at the Debiso Magistrate Court, the lawyer for a suspect accused of attempting to smuggle 800 bags of cocoa to the Ivory Coast mounted a vigorous defense.
The suspect was arrested by Police in Sehwi Adjofua in the Bia West District of the Western North Region on June 18, following an intelligence tip-off by a Cocobod officer.
The suspect, represented by lawyer Ebenezer Abiaw, faced charges of attempted smuggling.
During the court proceedings, lawyer Abiaw contended that his client, Adams Adson Enterprise, was conducting legitimate business activities within the cocoa franchise sector and did not engage in any illegal operations.
He challenged the credibility of Major Rtd. Ebenezer Tetteh, the Cocobod intelligence officer responsible for the suspect’s arrest.
He asserted that the arrest, carried out well within the district and not near any border, was baseless and a wrongful accusation of his client.
He emphasized that, there was no evidence suggesting his client had crossed into Ivory Coast or was in the process of doing so.
According to the lawyer, his client has been in a franchise cocoa business for many years so he doesn’t know the basis of the arrest and the charge.
Moreover, he argued that the arrest was not made on the border or outside the country but in the middle of the district so the basis of arrest must be considered as a wrongful accusation.
That notwithstanding, Lawyer Ebenezer Abiaw said the complainant cannot be trusted because he has been in several cases where arrests were made wrongfully and he was directed by the court to produce the confiscated bags of cocoa but failed to comply.
He further called on the government to intervene in this case.