3400 Slabs Of Wee Destroyed

Three thousand, four hundred slabs of Indian hemp, otherwise known as wee, concealed in 85 maxi sacks weighing between 78-80kg, were yesterday destroyed at the Tamale Landfill site.

The destruction, which was done under the supervision of officials of the Ghana Police Service, Custom Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), Ghana National Fire Service, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and officials of the Tamale Circuit Court, was on the instructions of a court.

This was after officials of the Police Forensic Laboratory, led by the director, Chief Superintendent David Agyeman Adjem, conducted preliminary scene analysis on the parcels and confirmed they were indeed packaged cannabis.

He told journalists that the final analysis would also be conducted but said that could not change the outcome of the first results which proved that the dried leaves were cannabis.

A circuit court presided over by Senyo Amedahe directed that drugs be destroyed under strict supervision of the four state institutions.

Meanwhile, the suspects who were arrested in connection with the biggest haul ever in the history of the region have been remanded into prison custody to reappear on February 8, 2012.

This is to enable the docket of the case to be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Department for advice as the circuit court lacks the capacity to sit on such cases.

It will be recalled that the police arrested a truckload of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp between Tinga and Banda Nkwanta in the Bole District of the region this month.

The driver of the vehicle, Abu Sumaila, 36 and Kwabena Boataleba, 45, together with the owner of the items, Ibrahim Adam, were subsequently arrested and arraigned on charges of transporting and possessing illegal goods.

According to the Northern Regional Police Commander, DCOP George Tuffour, who briefed the press after the arrest, his men on the highway, at the time of the arrest, spotted a fully loaded truck with registration number AS 7414 P, approaching their roadblock.

He said when the vehicle was stopped, they discovered that bags of cement had been packed on some items they suspected were dried leaves. Their suspicions were confirmed upon thorough checks.

The driver and his mate were immediately arrested but they denied ownership and claimed the items belonged to one Ibrahim Adam who was immediately called from Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region.

Adam rushed to the scene in a taxi cab, claimed ownership and tried bribing the police with a cash of 1,400CFA and GH¢430 but the cops ignored him and arrested him for trying to bribe them.

The police chief used the opportunity to caution especially members of the public who engaged in criminal activities that the police were out there to arrest and deal with them, stating that the region was not a haven for their operations.

“The police are alert at every time and will be on their necks till they are all arrested or eliminated from the system,” he indicated.