3 Kinapharma officials nabbed

Front Page: Daily Graphic, December 11, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia
The police yesterday picked three top officials of the Kinapharma Pharmaceutical Company for possessing substances prohibited under Ghana’s Narcotic Control Law.
The three are the Managing Director, Mr Kofi Nsiah Poku, the Deputy Managing Director, Mrs Nsiah Poku and the General Manager, Mr Eshum Fameyeh.
They were picked up after a combined team from the police CID headquarters and the Nacortic Control Board identified the powders in a warehouse at the company.
A field test on some of the powder tested partially positive for cocaine.
Sources at the CID headquarters told the Daily Graphic that officials of the company, however claimed that they have a permit to import those powders.
According to the sources, Kinapharma claimed that the powders were precursors meant for the manufacture of drugs.
Precursors are used in the manufacture of drugs, but in some countries restrictions have been placed on its importatation, purchase and sale because they have the potential to be used in the manufacture of illegal drugs.
The sources said the officials could not immediately produce any documents giving them the permission for them to import the powders.
According to the sources, Kinapharma had been asked to produce the documents by today (Friday) while the Ghana Standards Boards (GSB) is being asked to examine all the 23 parcels picked up from the warehouse of the company.
The source said the police raided the warehouse upon a tip-off and that although the officials gave access to parts of the warehouse they did not want the police to go to other parts, insisting that Food and Drugs Board (FDB) and Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) officials must also be present.
Based on that, the police invited the NACOB to join them in the exercise during which the parcels were identified and the field test on some of the parcels tested partially positive for cocaine.
The company, however, insist that the substances in the parcels were precursors and not cocaine.