Over 100 kilogrammes of substance suspected to be Indian hemp contained in 119 sacks have been intercepted by the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) at both Dabala and Wute in the Volta region.
The Acting Commissioner of the Customs Division of the GRA, Alhaji Iddrisu Iddisah Seidu, narrated to the media men how intelligence led to the interception of the substance to the media today.
According to him, the Division first intercepted a van transporting 26 sacks of dried leaves they suspected to be Indian Hemp, at Wute near Akatsi in the Volta Region.
As a result, he said, the Eastern Corridor Monitoring Task Force of the Division was alerted to act on smuggling and cross border crime along Ghana’s borders with Togo.
Based on this effective command, the taskforce was able to arrest the driver in-charge of the van, after a hot chase. Mr Iddisah indicated that it was during preliminary investigation that it was discovered that there was a second vehicle, carrying a huge number of the substance at Avadre near Ziope.
The taskforce was informed that the second truck had broken down and that its occupants had abandoned it. This was confirmed when they visited the scene.
However, the security men discovered that the transported goods had been off-loaded from the truck and hidden in a house nearby to conceal it from security detection.
Nevertheless, the dry leaves were retrieved and transported to a state warehouse for a joint examination to be conducted by the Ghana Narcotics Control Commission, Bureau of National Intelligence, National Security, Defence Intelligence and the Food and Drugs Authority.
At the meantime, Mr Iddisah stated that the suspect had been handed over to the police while the others are being hunted to face the law.
Even though the Ag Commissioner was certain that the truck drivers engaged in these illegal activities were doing so at the blind side of their employers, he urged vehicle owners to track the activities of their drivers.
The Head of the Eastern Corridor Monitoring Task Force, Revenue Officer Abdullah Dari referred people engaged in the illegal trade as “criminals and economic saboteurs -they wreck the nation of the revenue needed for development projects.”
Apart from economic wreckage, he said narcotics give rise to social vices and other health implications.
He said the fight against narcotics smugglers is becoming complicated by the day, since the traffickers “see it as a lucrative business and might not want to stop, but all citizens must play their role by exposing them to ensure sanity.”
