A narcotic drug suspect who was undergoing observation at the Accra Psychiatric Hospital has escaped. The suspect, Felicia Owusu Stewart-Smith, 51, is a Ghanaian with Swiss citizenship.
According to the Executive Secretary of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Mr Yaw Akrasi Sarpong, Felicia was arrested in 2009 for exporting narcotic drugs and was processed and put before court for trial.
He said during the trial, her lawyer made submissions to the effect that the accused was mentally imbalanced and the judge ordered that she be sent to the psychiatric hospital for observation, after which she was later detained.
He said Felicia had, since 2010, been under observation at the hospital and was supposed to be under guard. He noted that the board was yet to be furnished with the circumstances leading to her escape.
Mr Sarpong said although the board did not deny people their right to treatment, it doubted the submission by Felicia's lawyer, adding, "The woman has lived in Switzerland for a long time and even owns a Swiss passport but the Swiss government has no record of her mental problem as claimed by the lawyer."
Giving the background of the case, the NACOB boss said Felicia arrived at the Kotoka International Airport to go through departure formalities to travel on board a KLM flight 0590 bound for Amsterdam-Zurich but she was accosted on suspicion of carrying a narcotic drug by operatives of NACOB.
According to Mr Sarpong, at the time of her arrest, Felicia was made to identify her three traveling bags to the operatives and a search conducted in one of them led to the discovery of a quantity of a whitish powdery substance suspected to be cocaine which had been concealed in a false compartment.
He said Felicia was then arrested for investigations and a later search conducted on her premises at the Regimanuel Gray Estate on the Spintex Road in Accra again led to the retrieval of partly smoked dried leaves suspected to be cannabis and a small quantity of a powdery substance suspected to be cocaine.
He said in her caution statement, the accused had admitted ownership of all the stuff and claimed the substances found in her house were for her personal use to ease her pain and that the stuff was sent to her by one Nana Owusu of Bekwai through one Osei Bonsu of Community 9, Tema to be sent to Zurich in Switzerland for a fee of $150,000.
<<Print>>