The operation
Police said the raids, carried out by the Inspector-General of Police’s Special Operations Team (SOT), targeted more than a dozen Kumasi suburbs identified by police as centres of the alleged drug trade, including Atwima-Koforidua, Abuakwa, Sofo Line, Ash Town, Bantama, Krofrom and Tafo. The Service described the effort as part of an ongoing campaign against drug trafficking in the Ashanti Region.
These characterisations — the designation of the areas as “hotspots” and the operation as a “breakthrough” — are the police’s own framing and have not been independently corroborated.
Arrests
According to the statement, those detained comprise 49 men and 5 women. Of the men, police say 11 are Malian nationals and 38 are Ghanaian. No suspects have been named, and no charges have yet been filed; police say all 54 remain in custody “assisting with investigations” pending court appearances once inquiries conclude. As such, none of the detainees has been convicted, and the alleged offences remain unproven allegations at this stage.
Seizures
Police said the exhibits recovered included a substantial quantity of Tramadol in multiple dosages and brands — 70 tablets of 125mg Tramaking, 353 tablets of 225mg Tramaking, 85 tablets of 250mg Tramaking and 100 tablets of 250mg Royal Tramadol, along with 58 boxes of 225mg Tramaking. Officers also recovered several hundred sealed packages of dried plant material police suspect to be narcotic substances — 268 transparent packages, a further 84 transparent packages, and 15 gold-sealed packages — as well as a sealed bag of suspected narcotic seeds, six sealed rubber wraps of suspected narcotics, and one further polythene package of suspected narcotic leaves.
The statement also lists 13 bottles of a fruit-juice brand, Femude, which police allege contained narcotic substances, though no laboratory analysis is cited to support this claim. Additional exhibits include 34 rolling papers described by police as drug-processing materials, 13 pairs of scissors allegedly used to process narcotics, 11 boxes of foreign cigarettes, 23 mobile phones, two casino jackpot machines, and four unregistered motorcycles.
Police have not disclosed forensic confirmation for any of the seized substances; the statement describes all the plant and drug material throughout as “suspected” narcotics, indicating laboratory verification is presumably still pending.
