Stephen Ediozie, an Italy-based Nigerian who was arraigned before an Accra Circuit Court for allegedly having over 40 pellets of heroin concealed in shoes, has been sentenced to five years� imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.
This was after Ediozie, who had maintained his innocence in the course of the trial, finally admitted that he indeed carried the substance in his shoes.
He pleaded guilty to the offence of attempted importation of narcotic drugs without lawful authority in a court presided over by Francis Obiri.
The trial judge, after Ediozie admitted to attempted importation, sentenced him to five years.
A few weeks after Ediozie was arraigned, DSP Aidan Derry, the prosecuting officer, told the court that the results of the substance which was sent to the Ghana Standards Board for analytical examination, proved positive for heroine.
Ediozie was nabbed by the police after they found the suspected heroin concealed in his shoes he was to wear to Italy, for a fee of �22,000. He aroused suspicion when he refused to stop, in spite of orders by the police to do so, when his vehicle was involved in an accident near a police checkpoint around Sogakope.
Ediozie had earlier denied attempting to traffic narcotic drugs without lawful authority.
Presenting the facts of the case, DSP Dery told the court that the accused person, a Nigerian, was domiciled in Prato, Italy.
According to him, the accused person came to Ghana purposely to export heroin to Italy on behalf of a drug baron whose name the accused person failed to disclose.
The prosecutor noted that on September 25, 2011, Ediozie, who had arrived in Ghana, went to Nigeria to take 44 pellets of heroin, which he was supposed to swallow, from a certain Chief Emeka.
Ediozie, who did not want to swallow the pellets, contracted a Ghanaian to swallow some of the stuff for him so he could at least conceal some in his shoes and take them to Italy for a said amount.
Whilst driving from Nigeria with the pellets concealed in his shoes, placed in a bag in a private vehicle, Ediozie got involved in an accident at a village near Sogakope, close to a police checkpoint. But instead of stopping, Ediozie sped off.
The prosecutor said when he failed to stop, the police signaled him to do so but he refused to comply with their orders. They therefore chased and apprehended him.
He noted that the police conducted a search in his car and found the shoes in the handbag and the accused person claimed responsibility for it and its contents.
The accused person was arraigned after police concluded investigations.
By Fidelia Achama
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