By: Nicholas Bass
Lead defence lawyer in the trial of three judicial officers over 52 missing cocaine blocks Lamin K. Mboge on Monday told the Banjul High Court that DLEAG has tampered with the 52 blocks following the conviction and sentencing of Bocar Hamet Salla over the drugs.
Mboge vehemently argued that the 52 cocaine blocks have been tampered by the anti-narcotics agency as they transported them to the DLEAG’s Scientific Lab.
However, the first state witness Commissioner Abdoulie Ceesay has testified that samples were extracted from the blocks, adding that the entire 52 cocaine blocks were not taken to DLEAG’s Scientific Lab.
When asked by Mboge to describe the 52 cocaine blocks, Commissioner Ceesay explained that the blocks of cocaine were sealed in two boxes, containing 26 blocks each, adding that 52 cocaine blocks were bound.
Under cross-examination, the witness acknowledged that DLEAG on 15 November 2023, wrote a letter to the Chief Justice to grant an approval for the release of the 52 blocks of cocaine, adding that the Chief Justice gave the agency the approval on 30 November 2023.
Lawyer Mboge at that juncture applied for the correspondence between the DLEAG and the Chief Justice to be tendered into evidence and his application was granted.
When the defense lawyer asked about the whereabouts of the analytical report regarding the 52 blocks of cocaine, Commissioner Ceesay replied that the prosecution tendered one analytical report at the beginning of the case before magistrate Colley, stating that DLEAG also tendered other analytic reports to the court in the subsequent sittings
It could be recalled that principal registrar Ridwan Othman, former magistrate Ebrima Janko Colley and court clerk Mariama Jankeh Tamba were on 10 October 2023, charged. Magistrate Colley and Mr. Othman are standing trial on charges of conspiracy, theft, dealing in prohibited drugs, fraud and breach of trust whilst Maraiama Jankeh Tamba is undergoing trial on a separate charge of neglect of official duty.