GHANA: British teenagers back in court in Ghana for second day of cocaine trial

Two British girls appear in court for a second day in Accra, Ghana on cocaine smuggling charges. Two teenage British girls went on trial in Ghana on Thursday (July 26) charged with trying to smuggle drugs, but their pleas were kept confidential under the West African country's juvenile laws, a British embassy spokesman said. Yasemin Vatansever and Yatunde Diya, both 16, were arrested on July 2 at Accra's Kotoka airport after Ghanaian anti-drugs officers said they found 6 kg (13 lbs) of cocaine in two laptop bags they were carrying as they boarded a flight to Britain. "Their pleas were taken and the trial then began. It has been adjoined now till this afternoon. I'm not ready to give you any details of the court case . The Ghanaian juvenile act is what we have to adhere to and that means no details of the court case," British Embassy spokesman Gary Nicholl told reporters outside the court. After their arrest the two girls told British television that male acquaintances in Ghana and Britain tricked them into carrying the laptop bags and that they did not know what was in them. They could face 10 years in a Ghanaian jail if convicted. Vatansever, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt, and Diya, in a black velour tracksuit, entered the court building in the capital Accra through a rear entrance 20 minutes before the scheduled start of the hearing. The pair were ushered out of a different exit 90 minutes later, hiding their faces beneath a length of brightly coloured fabric, and were driven away in a car. Officers of Ghana's Narcotics Control Board (Nacob) have said the girls were being paid 3,000 pounds (6,000 U.S. dollars) each to carry the bags to Britain. They say the men whom the girls met paid for their flights, accommodation and food in Ghana. The drugs had an estimated value of 300,000 pounds (600,000 U.S. dollar) on British streets. Ghanaian police have said they are looking for three men, one in Britain and two in Ghana, in connection with the case. The teenagers were arrested under Operation Westbridge, a project set up by Britain and Ghana to tackle drug smugglers using Accra airport as a gateway to Britain and Europe. West Africa has become an important staging post for Colombian cocaine on its way to lucrative European markets.

ITN Source | July 27, 2007

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