This followed an accident involving the vehicle at the Monome Bypass Junction in Akatsi, Volta Region.

The black-coloured car, bearing two different registration numbers—GS 234-17 and GC 7258-13—reportedly somersaulted and landed in a nearby bush after allegedly being chased by some security personnel.

Mr Dagbah, who rushed to the scene, said a search of the vehicle revealed large quantities of what is suspected to be Indian hemp.

“I got an alert around 6:40 pm on Saturday that a car was involved in an accident in my area, so I rushed to the scene with my security detail to bring the situation under control,” he told the Ghana News Agency (GNA).

The car was later towed to the Akatsi Police Station for further investigation.

Mr Dagbah, who also chairs the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC) of Akatsi South, disclosed that the impounded contraband included 378 small-size, 43 flat-type, and 87 big-size compressed parcels of suspected Indian hemp, all packed in sacks.

According to the Akatsi Police, the driver of the vehicle is currently at large, and efforts are underway to apprehend him.

A team from the Volta Regional Police Command has since taken custody of the retrieved consignments for further action.

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According to the Regional Police Commander, DCOP Isaac Kwadwo Asante, the arrest was made on Tuesday, May 13, 2025, after months of surveillance.

The suspects have been identified as 40-year-old Hawa Ibrahim, the landlady, and 30-year-old Latifa Adams.

In an interview with Adom News, DCOP Asante explained that the Police stormed the house based on intelligence. Upon a thorough search, 24 maxi bags filled with Indian hemp were retrieved.

The two are currently in custody, assisting with investigations, and will be processed for court in due course.

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The suspect has been identified as Bukari Yakubu.

In a statement, the Police explained that Bukari was arrested at his residence on Saturday, 10th May 2025 at 1:00 am, at Akatsi in the Volta Region after surveillance was placed on him.

Investigation conducted so far indicates that Bukari has been dealing in narcotics within Akatsi and its surrounding areas.

“A search conducted at his residence led to the retrieval of 92 slabs of a substance wrapped in yellowish material, suspected to be Indian hemp and two Royal motorbikes, suspected to be stolen,” the statement added.

Upon preliminary interrogation, the suspect admitted ownership of the items.

He is currently in police custody, assisting with investigations and will be put before the court.

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The substances which were intercepted at Atikpui, a border community along Ghana’s boundary with Togo in the Ho municipality, were hidden in industrial sacks.

The Public Relations Officer of the Volta Regional Command of the GIS, Inspector Felix Klu Adjei who confirmed the incident said the operation happened on Tuesday, July 26, 2022, at about 8:00 am.

He added that after the necessary processes were completed the exhibits were handed over to the Narcotics Control Board on Thursday, July 28, 2022.

The Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI), Joanna S.A Agbeti, Commander for Shia Border Post narrated that the suspects were conveying the suspected Indian hemp from Ghana to Togo using an urvan bus.

Sector Commander for Nyive, Assistant Commissioner of Immigration (ACI) Abdulai Zakaria added that due to the nature of the unapproved route being used, the vehicle of the suspects got stuck at some point.

To this end, they decided to offload the vehicle to allow it to cross.

That is how their informant discovered the sacks and notified them. The command quickly deployed a team to ascertain the information. The suspected owners of the goods upon realizing that they have been found out abandoned the consignments and fled.

It is not clear if the team escaped with some of the substance or left it all behind.

ACI Zakaria thanked the informants and urged residents in the region, especially those living along Ghana’s boundary with Togo to cooperate and collaborate with security agencies in the fight against illicit activities especially, .

In 2021, the Ghana Immigration Service in the Volta region intercepted over 3,000 parcels of illegal drugs. Some 760 illegal immigrants were also arrested and repatriated to their various countries between 2021 and first quarter of 2022.

The Media Officer of the taskforce, Maj. Ishaku Takwa, who disclosed this in a statement on Saturday, September 4, said 320 blocks of Indian hemp worth 9.5 million naira were recovered from the suspects.

He said the suspects, Kalu, 60, and Friday Kalu, 40, were arrested along Manchok – Vom road on Saturday.

“This afternoon, our troops arrested two suspected drug dealers and recovered 320 blocks of Indian hemp worth N9.5 million concealed in a Toyota Camry car with registration number Abuja ABC 214 HV,” he stated.

“The suspects, Patrick Kalu, a retired police officer and Mr Friday Kalu were nabbed by the troops during a stop and search operation on the Manchok-Vom road.

“They told our personnel that they were contracted to convey the illicit substance from Ondo state to Yola in Adamawa State,” he added.

Other items recovered from the suspects included; a police identity card, two Nokia phones and two wallets, one containing N16,100 and the other N2,900. 40.

He said that the suspects and items recovered had been handed over to the Plateau command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) for further investigation.

The media officer further said that the Commander of task force, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Ali, had commended the troops for the arrest, while assuring that the military would not rest on its oars, until criminals and their collaborators were wiped of the state.

He said Maj.-Gen. Ali also urged law abiding citizens to continue to support security agencies with credible information on criminal activities for their response.

Samuel Asante was fished out following a tip-off that he was trading substances suspected to be narcotics at the Christiansburg Castle Junction.

The suspect, 38, was arrested and upon a thorough search, Police retrieved some suspicious items from his room.

The items include seven sacks, full of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, and ten bottles of alcoholic drinks brewed with substance suspected to be Indian hemp.

The Police Service will continue to adopt strategies to rid communities of criminals, in a bid to prevent crimes and to ensure law and order in the country, a statement accompanying his arrest has said.

The general public is encouraged to assist the Police with information on criminal activities.

The parcels, which were in oval and square shapes, were intercepted upon a tip-off.

Assistant Superintendent Odoi Jeffery Nii Laryea, Commander, GIS, Wli Afegame Border Post, in an interview, disclosed that the parcels, including a set of diapers, were found in a green Toyota Hiace with registration number GN 5733-18.

He said officers were on patrol on Sunday when they received a call at about 9:15 pm from a source about a vehicle they suspect was carrying contraband goods.

The Commander said they had reinforcement and proceeded to the scene at about 10:30 pm.

He said the officers opened and checked the vehicle and found the parcels of the substance.

The Commander noted that they also informed the chief of the town about the operation.

The parcels had inscriptions on them including ‘Boss’, ‘JK’, ‘SH’, and ‘3.’

The Toyota Hiace vehicle was traveling from Ghana to Togo using the Wli Todzi route.

The Commander said no information was known about the occupants of the vehicle since they were at large.

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The Assistant Superintendent urged the public to avoid dealing in dangerous substances, adding that anybody caught with such products would face the law.

The parcels were counted in the presence of officers of the Ghana Armed Forces, National Intelligence Bureau, Ghana Police Service, and the GIS.

The Wli Border GIS in 2019 intercepted 164 parcels of narcotics around Gbledi.

A vehicle inspection report from the intercepted vehicle dated 26/09/2019 and sighted by the Ghana News Agency was in the name of one Samuel Asempah as the owner.

In a related incident, the Honuta Command of the GIS on Friday, at about 11:50 am, intercepted 1,550 parcels of suspected dried leaves suspected to be cannabis at the Klave border enclave.

According to the commanding officer of the GIS at the Honuta  Border, Superintendent Bernard Kojo Nketiah, the consignment was timely intercepted by a team of patrol officers upon intelligence.

Information on the ground operations at the said location indicated that the driver and his accomplices, upon sensing danger during the arrival of the Patrol Team, abandoned the contraband goods, including a Toyota Mini Bus with a vehicle registration number GG 2314-20.

The Commander disclosed that a thorough search through the bush, the crime scene; by himself and the men, revealed 19 big sacks  of which subsequent investigation by the GIS, Police, Customs Division , Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and the National Intelligence Bureau revealed that it contained 1,550 parcels of ‘Indian Hemp’.

A Ghanaian Voter Identification Card bearing the name, Ganuvo Kwaku, Drivers license, Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) certificate and  GRA Income Tax documents were found at the crime scene.

The confiscated contraband goods have since been handed over to the Head of NACOB in the District , Rodger Vanderpuije, in the presence of the District Chief Executive for  further investigation.

The Command, is also  in the process of handing over the said vehicle to the appropriate authority for onward investigation.

The Regional Command is cautioning those who engage in such criminal activities to desist from the practice, since the law will take its course on them when apprehended.

Addressing the Press at the Honuta border, the Volta Regional Commander of the GIS, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration Peter Claver Nantuo (Esq), commended the Officer In- charge and the team, for  great show of professionalism, high excellence and integrity in foiling the illegal operations of the cross border syndicates.

He used the moment to thank the sister security agencies in their respective efforts and effective collaboration to actualising a common objective.

He thanked the District Chief Executive for Ho West, Hon. Apau Ernest Victor, the chiefs and the entire community for rendering their support to the operations of the security agencies, and encouraged all to abide by the COVID protocols.

Rita Atsufui Koffie would spend three years imprisonment in hard labour if she fails to pay the fine.

She admitted the offence, and she was convicted on her own plea, but the sentence was deferred to Thursday when she was sentenced to a fine of 10,000 penalty units equivalent to ¢120,000.00.

Meanwhile, the convict has tested negative to pregnancy based on the order of Susana Eduful, the judge, before handing down the sentence.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Evans Kessie, told the court that madam Koffie was a trader, living at Sukura near Dansoman.

He said upon a tip-off, the Police arrested her on September 9, 2020, at about 1600 hours with three buckets of the Indian hemp soaked in liquid, popularly known as “lacka” as well as the quantity of the dried leaves.

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ASP Kessie said the exhibit tested positive during a laboratory examination.

Also, consultancy firm Prohibition Partners stated that by 2023, the value of Africa’s legal cannabis market could be worth over USD 7.1 billion.

For this to happen, a candid discourse must be held by all stakeholders on the modalities for legalization, licensing, and regulation of the industry.”

Police reports indicate that a dark truck with registration number AS 5138-11 with 5 people on board was stopped on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, by the Police at Abremdo barrier for a normal routine inspection on the vehicle.

The persons on board the vehicle for fear of bearing arrested by the police took to their heels, but three of them couldn’t escape the webs of the police.

Public Relations Officer of the Western Region Command of the Ghana Police Service, DSP Olivia Ewurabena Adiku at a press briefing at the Headquarters of the Western Region Police Command, disclosed that the arrest was effected successfully with the aid of some civilians in the neighbourhood.

She gave the names of the three suspects arrested as; Kwaku Quansah, Francis Ackah, and Ali Amadu.

According to DSP Olivia E. Adiku, the remaining two [the driver whose name was given as Taller, and the mate Kojo], are on the run and are being pursued by the police.

DSP Olivia Adiku said, this is the biggest suspected Indian hemp that the police command have intercepted for this year and they have also mounted a search for the two who are currently on the run.

The three arrested would be arraigned before a court after a forensic investigation to confirm the nature of the substance [leaves], DSP Olivia E. Adiku added.