ADVERTISEMENT

2 arrested for attempting to smuggle Indian hemp to Nigeria

The police gave the name of the woman as Grace Adaa while the man, who is the keeper of the warehouse, was identified as Jolayemi Joseph, 36, a Nigerian.

___4324858___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___4324858___2015___11___4___11___1.8420131

A 58-year-old woman and a 36-year-old warehouse keeper have been arrested for allegedly concealing 650 slabs of a substance suspected to be narcotic in bales of used clothing and attempting to transport them to Nigeria.

The Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit of the Ghana Police Service Police has apprehended the woman who claims to be a Ghanaian with Nigerian descent and the man who is her employee at a warehouse at Tudu, near the Makola Market in the Accra Central Business District.

Plain-clothes police officers and officers of the SWAT Unit first arrested Joseph at the warehouse, with the inscription Gracepoju, at Tudu busily getting ready to transport the bales to Nigeria.

Joseph then assisted the police to arrest his employer, Grace.

ADVERTISEMENT

In all, 14 bales of used clothing were retrieved by the police and each of them contained between 40 and 50 slabs of compressed dried leaves which had been wrapped with a yellow elastic plastic material and neatly packed in sacks.

The sacks had been sewed at the tip with some of the used clothing hanging loosely.

Warehouse keeper arrested

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the National SWAT Unit Commander, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bismarck Achaab, said the two suspects were apprehended yesterday at about 12 noon upon a tip-off.

He said Grace had claimed ownership of the warehouse and told the police she had been in the business of transporting used clothing from Ghana to Nigeria for the past 20 years.

ADVERTISEMENT

“She said Joseph had detected the slabs in the bales and informed her while she was in Nigeria. However, she arrived in Ghana three days ago and failed to inform the police,” he said.

Mr Achaab said all the 14 bales of the used clothing were transported to the police headquarters, opened and counted in the presence of the suspects.

“We detected that each bale contained about 50 slabs of the compressed dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp. The substance is yet to be tested to ascertain if it is narcotics.”

The suspects have since been handed over to the Narcotics Unit of the CID for further investigations.

The retrieved slabs of the compressed dried leaves and the used clothes have also been handed over to the investigation team to be used as exhibits in the course of prosecution.

ADVERTISEMENT

Source: Graphic.com.gh

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT