By: Akpabli Daniel
Yao/IGNews/Peki/VR
A joint force from the
Ghana Police Service have arrested two persons suspected to be illegally cultivating
cannabis at Peki in the South-Dayi District of the Volta Region.
The operation led by
Superintendent of Police and Director in charge of Drug Law Enforcement Unit at
the CID headquarters Accra, David Selorm Hukporti, comprised Sixty (60) police
personnel from the National Drug law enforcement Unit at the Criminal
Investigation Department headquarters, Accra, the Special Weapons and Tactics
(SWAT) and CID teams at the Regional Headquarters, Ho and the Peki Divisional
Police Command.
The suspects led the team
of the joint Police force and the media to the hidden cannabis hub located at
Tome mountains between Peki and Boso enclaves as part of their investigations.
According to Supt.
Hukporti, the success of the operation was due to one of the processes of
information gathering that the team picked and process into intelligence that
led to the arrest of the first individual and later to the second suspect.
“our operations are largely fed on information
gathering. So, when we gather pieces of information here and there, we do
process them into intelligence and then make them actionable. That is why you
find us here” he explained
Supt Hukporti said, 17
farms totaling about 30 acres have so far been destroyed and are expected to
destroy other hundreds of acres in the subsequent days.
He said, his men, assisted
by drones, have also gone beyond the enclave to discover more farms in the
other side which they shall be advancing to destroy as well.
As the sun started to
set, he saw the need of the personnel to close and come back to finish the job
as his outfit put the whole enclave under security surveillance for, he was
certain that nobody will dare do anything that will put him/herself into more
problems
He therefore commended
the team as he explained that, much of the works were done manually with few using
an available motorized cutter.
He noted that, the
operation is a work in continue as the team is doing everything possible to
arrest everybody in connection with the cultivation adding that, wherever the
team will get information and would have to act accordingly, they are ready.
He observed that, the
whole of the enclave has been abused but hope that farmers in this area will
change their minds to cultivate food crops to better their lives instead of
engaging in this kid of illegal activity.
He further advised anyone
who is interested in cultivating cannabis in a large scale particularly for
medicinal and industrial purpose to follow due process and acquire the
necessary permits in order not to fall foul of the law.
Meanwhile the team when
retrieving back to the Peki District Headquarters from the farms, met several
roadblocks suspected to be mounted by some residents who are not in support of
the law enforcement agencies.
The Narcotics Control
Commission Bill of 2019 was passed into law in March 2020, paving way for the
formation of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to oversee the industrial use
of narcotic substances such as cannabis meanwhile, the cultivation without a license
remained illegal per the law.
ALSO PUBLISHED IN THE FINDER NEWSPAPER
0 Comments