A 20-year-old labourer, Kojo Saah Nkrumah, has been fined GH¢120,000 (12 penalty units) by the Tarkwa Circuit Court for possessing and selling cannabis without lawful authority.
The court, presided over by Her Honour Bernice Mensimah Ackon, convicted Nkrumah after he pleaded guilty to the charges. He faces three years’ imprisonment in default of paying the fine. The case was prosecuted by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Samuel Ahiabor
Nkrumah was charged with possession of narcotic drugs without lawful authority, contrary to Section 37(1) of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), and selling narcotic drugs without lawful authority, contrary to Section 38(2) of the same Act. According to the prosecution, the offences occurred on January 21, 2025, at the Tarkwa Railway Station in the Western Region.
The court heard that the complainants, police officers stationed at the Western Central Regional Formed Police Unit (RFPU) base in Tarkwa, were on routine night patrol duties at about 1:30 a.m. when they extended their patrol to the railway station.
During the patrol, the officers allegedly found Nkrumah seated in a shed selling substances suspected to be narcotic drugs.
A search of a takeaway bag in his possession reportedly uncovered 81 wraps of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis, seven sachets of tramadol and GH¢240 in cash, believed to be proceeds from the sale of the substances.
He was arrested and taken to the Tarkwa Police Station, together with the suspected drugs and other exhibits. The prosecution said the exhibits were subsequently sent to the Forensic Crime Laboratory in Accra for analysis.
A forensic report dated April 23, 2025, and received by investigators on May 13, 2025, confirmed that the plant material tested positive for delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabinol and cannabidiol, which are associated with cannabis.
The substance had a gross weight of 139.61 grammes and a net weight of 38.57 grammes.
Following investigations, Nkrumah was charged and brought before the court, where he pleaded guilty to the offences.
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