Kumasi, Jan 23, GNA-A Kumasi circuit court on Wednesday convicted a Chinese couple for smuggling drugs into the country and evading the payment of tax.
Yong Wen Yang and his wife, Lu Jinping, who pleaded guilty to the charges, were fined one million cedis each or in default will serve 12 months prison sentences each in hard labour. The court, however, did not take their pleas on a second count of dealing in fake drugs and remanded them in police custody to re-appear on January 26.
In the meantime, the court ordered the seizure of their passports while the drugs, Antersunate tablets are sent to the Forensic Laboratory to determine their genuiness.
Chief Inspector Margaret Damalie told the court that the Food and Drugs Board (FDB) on January 20, had information that the Chinese couple were selling drugs which were suspected to be fake at Glorious Pharmacy at Bantama, a suburb of Kumasi.
Subsequently, she said, the board detailed a team to go to the pharmacy shop and buy some of the drugs to verify the authenticity of the information.
Chief Inspector Damalie said the team therefore, bought two boxes of antersunate valued at 960,000 cedis and suspicious that the drugs were fake, made a report to the police who arrested the couple. She said investigations by the police revealed that the couple had no documents covering the importation of the drugs into the country and therefore, charged them with the offences.
Source: GhanaWeb
