By Kemeseng Sanneh (Kexx)
Senior Lawyer Sheriff Marie Tambadou continued with his questioning of Lamin Y.K. Sanneh, a narcotic officer working with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of the Gambia.
His initial questions were regarding the process of arrest and the place of arrest. The witness maintained his previous testimony that Paulo was arrested at the Envy Night Club with a certain drug and the other drugs were recovered from their residences.
“Mr Sanyang, you are a member of the joint investigation team. What do you know about this investigation?” Lawyer Tambadou asked.
“When the accused were arrested with some prohibited drugs, strings and needles and where Paulo Djabi and Nadin were staying at Waterfront monies, vehicles and motorcycles were also seized,” the witness answered.
He said at the time of arrest, they did not find drugs on the wife of Paulo at Envy Night Club while Paulo was found with MDMA, but he could not remember the grams.
He testified that they found drugs – MDMA and amphetamine – at the residence of the accused persons.
“Do you weigh it?” Tambadou asked.
“No, my lord,” the witness replied.
“What about the weight of the amphetamine?” the Lawyer asked.
“It’s a liquid substance,” the witness answered.
“Mr Sanyang how much amphetamine is illegal in the Gambia?” Lawyer Tambadou asked.
“I couldn’t remember,” the witness said.
“Please take a look at exhibit P13. You’ll see at the bottom it says “confirmed presence of amphetamine. How do you know how much amphetamine?” Counsel Tambadou asked.
“No,” the witness said.
“Do you know what amphetamine is?” Tambadou asked.
“Yes, they’re drugs,” the witness answered.
“What kind of drugs?” Counsel Tambadou asked.
“It’s an inhale,” the witness said.
“Do you know that?” Tambadou asked.
“Amphetamine is a medicine and it can be used medically,” Lawyer Tambadou said.
“No, my lord,” the witness replied.
“I refer you to exhibit 13, which says Boldenone. Do you know Boldenone?” Tambadou asked.
The witness said he did not know.
“Mr Sanyang do you know that there’s no substance in the world called boldenone?” Tambadou asked again.
“I don’t know,” the witness answered.
“Do you agree with me that the amount of drug you claim to have found on the 1st and 2nd Accused Person is the subject in the case?” Tambadou asked.
“Yes,” the witness replied.
“The men who went to arrest the 1st and 2nd accused went with guns and batons,” the lawyer alleged.
“No,” the witness replied.
The lawyer alleged that more than 20 people went to arrest Paulo and his wife with guns and batons. The witness denied the lawyer’s allegation saying they
were arrested by the joint investigation team and they were not issued guns.
“I am putting it to you some of the men threatened to shoot the accused if they attempted to move,” the lawyer said.
“No,” the witness replied.
The Lawyer said during the arrest, the officers were saying to the hearing of Paulo, “Shoot to kill.” The witness said he was not present at the time of the arrest.
“So, how did you know that they weren’t with weapons during their arrest since you weren’t there?” Tambadou asked.
“When they were arrested, they brought them to the headquarters, and no weapon was brought,” he said.
“Mr Sanyang, it was one 1 gram found with the first accused. Can you tell the court whether it’s justified to have 20 men armed with weapons for the arrest of the accused?” the lawyer asked.
“They were never arrested with a weapon,” the witness said.
“So, as an experienced DLEAG officer, the person arrested with 1.6 grams of MDMA is a person using it for personal use or drug dealing,” Tambadou said.
“As for possession, once it is a drug, it is in possession of the drug, and it can be dealt or used,” the witness replied.
The other questions were about the people living in the house of the accused persons and the composition of the rooms.
The case was adjourned to 2nd December.
