Chima Uchechukwu
Chima Uchechukwu, a Nigerian arrested with some narcotic drugs at Oyarifa in Accra and worth a whopping $2.1m, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of narcotic possession charges.
The Office of the Attorney General amended the charge sheet against the accused after a test by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) on the seized substances at his Oyarifa residence tested positive for cocaine, heroine and morphine, all narcotic drugs.
The items retrieved at the accused person’s residence included 192 slabs, 57 pellets and a polybag containing compressed substances.
Court documents indicate that Chima Uchechukwu is the head of a narcotic trafficking enterprise which operates in Ghana, and exported narcotic drugs to Europe and other parts of Africa.
He has been on the radar of the Narcotic Control Commission (NACOC) since 2023, and has been identified as the source of supply for some two Nigerians who were arrested, prosecuted and convicted in 2024 for drug trafficking.
Chima Uchechukwu has been charged with three counts of possession of narcotic drug without lawful authority contrary to Section 37(1) of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019).
He has also been charged with one count of use of property for narcotic offences contrary to Sections 48(1), (a) and (b) of the same Act.
He pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was remanded into the custody of NACOC to reappear on May 2, 2025.
Brief Facts
Prosecution’s facts presented by Watkins Adama, a Senior State Attorney indicate that Chima Uchechukwu was identified sometime in 2025, and was put under surveillance.
He was seen on several occasions accessing and using two properties at Oyaria, which are approximately one kilometre apart.
On March 18, 2025, he was arrested at his private residence at Oyarifa but nothing relating to narcotic drug was found at his home except huge sums of money in different currencies.
These monies are believed to be proceeds of his narcotic drug trafficking activities.
He was then led to the other identified property and he provided a key and gave access to NACOC officers to conduct a search.
The search revealed materials and other implements found to be used to package and repackage narcotic drugs.
192 slabs, 57 pellets and a polybag containing compressed substances retrieved from the property of the accused person tested positive for cocaine and heroin.
The Ghana Standards Authority, per a report dated April 4, 2025, confirmed that the 192 slabs tested positive for cocaine with percentage purity of between 48.79 and 70.42.
The 57 pellets were also tested positive for cocaine with percentage purity of 49.63.
Again, the polybag retrieved tested positive for heroin and morphine, narcotic drugs with percentage purity of 18.65 and 17.57 respectively.
Chima Uchechukwu, who is believed to be part of a larger criminal enterprise engaged in trafficking narcotic drugs, was found to have amassed several properties and luxury vehicles, which are still being investigated.
The facts added that efforts have also been intensified to identify other partners and accomplices of the accused person for their arrest.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak