Two persons have been arrested by the police for attempting to convey 90 slabs of compressed dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp to the Volta Region and Nigeria.
The suspects, who were arrested at separate places and times, are Mustapha Mohammed, 34, a trader, and Stephen Gbafe, 52, a private security officer.
Mohammed was arrested at a transport terminal in Accra for possessing 48 compressed parcels of dried leaves concealed in a travelling bag. He intended travelling to Nigeria.
Gbafe, on the other hand, was arrested on the Kanda Highway while he was in the process of loading the slabs of compressed leaves into a taxi.
Porter finds dried leaves
The Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr Christian Tetteh Yohuno, told journalists that about 6:30 a.m. on October 4, 2015, Mohammed went to the ABC Transport Services Terminal at Caprice in Accra with two travelling bags and purchased a travelling ticket for Nigeria.
During pre-departure formalities, he said, a porter in charge of the terminal opened the first bag and found 28 parcels of suspected Indian hemp concealed in it.
He said when the porter opened the second bag in Mohammed’s presence, he found that it had 20 parcels concealed in it and he quickly handed over the suspect and the bags to the police.
At the police station, Mr Yohuno said, Mohammed told the police that a man he named only as Osman from Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region had given him the substances to be delivered to an unnamed person in Nigeria.
Gbafe’s arrest
With regard to Gbafe, the Regional Police Commander said about 5:40 p.m. on October 3, 2015, a police team on patrol duties in and around Agbogbloshie had a tip-off that two men were on board a taxi-cab with a fertiliser sack containing compressed parcels suspected to be Indian hemp and were heading towards the Spintex Road.
The team intercepted the taxi-cab on the Kanda Highway and when it was searched, 42 parcels of compressed dried leaves concealed in a fertiliser sack were retrieved.
Gbafe, who claimed ownership of the sack and its contents, is said to have told the police that they had been sent to him from Hohoe in the Volta Region by his son whose name he gave as Courage G
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Source: Graphic Online
