Personnel of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) at the Hornuta Border Post have intercepted over 2,000 compressed slabs of a substance suspected to be Indian Hemp.
The slabs, which were concealed in sacks of locally produced rice, were intercepted last Sunday at about 8:15 am.
Assistant Commissioner of Customs in-charge of Ho Sector, Frank Cudjoe Ashong, told the media that but for the vigilance of his men at the Hornuta Border Post, the four suspects would have transported the consignment to the Republic of Togo unnoticed.
The suspects are Mohammed Umaru, owner of the suspected Indian Hemp and his accomplice, Evans Isatsaku, driver of the truck and Stephen Avegah, the driver’s mate.
He disclosed that when the Kia truck which the quartet was traveling on board got to the border, the men on duty undertook routine checks on the truck and its cargo.
“We used the spiting rod to search the grains and as we spitted the sacks, we found hard substances. This raised suspicion leading to the discovery of 2,172 compressed slabs of substance suspected to the Indian Hemp.
The slabs were discovered in all the 85 sacks of rice being conveyed by the suspects.
Mr Ashong warned people to desist from smuggling drugs in the region, adding that the arrested persons would be made to face the full rigors of the law.
“We examine all exported and imported goods vigorously and so we will by all means arrest you,” he warned.
The suspects, who were detained, were handed over to the Narcotic Control Board (NACOB) in Ho on Monday.
Head of NACOB in the Volta Region, Samuel Yeboah, expressed gratitude to the Customs Officers for the excellent job, adding that the partnership between the two agencies would be boosted to stop the drug trade in the country and the sub-region.
Modus Operandi
Mr Ashong explained that many peasant farmers in the region were engaged in the cultivation of Indian Hemp.
He said for instance, the owner of the intercepted consignment admitted in a preliminary investigation that the Indian Hemp were cultivated on the bank of the Volta Lake.
After harvesting and packaging the Indian Hemp, they are transported in a canoe to Kpeve Tornu and loaded onto a truck to Togo where the slabs are sold at exorbitant prices.
DAILY GUIDE’s investigations indicated that a slab cost GH¢10.00 at the farming communities, GH¢100.00 in Accra and GH¢70 in Ho. It sells at CFA 20,000.00 in Togo (about GH¢130).
Chief Revenue Officer at the Hornuta Border Post said despite the many tricks of drug smugglers, he and his men would work hard to apprehend them.
“If the drug smugglers have become birds that fly without perching, we are hunters that would shoot them without missing,” he stressed.
<<Print>>