Police corporal caught in possession of ‘wee’
A police corporal and an accomplice have been arrested by the Volta Regional Police Command for allegedly possessing three maxi-bags of leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.
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The names of the suspects have been given as Corporal Joehanes Kweku Appiah, 33, and George Bakry, 36.
The three “Ghana Must Go” bags containing 159 neat packages of substances were found in the boot of an unregistered saloon car, a Daewoo Lacetti, which was being driven by Corporal Appiah from Dzemeni in the South Dayi District in the Volta Region towards Accra.
According to the Volta Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP), Mr Alex Bedie, the police, upon a tip-off that a vehicle was conveying some Indian hemp from Dzemeni towards Accra, deployed a team to track down the vehicle.
Initially, he said, when Corporal Appiah was signalled to stop at Asikuma, he refused to do so and sped off.
Police personnel along the road were alerted on the movement of the vehicle and they eventually intercepted it at a spot near Juapong.
Mr Bedie said contents of the bags were 159 neatly sellotaped slabs suspected to contain Indian hemp.
According to Mr Bedie, when the suspect was interrogated, he claimed the substances were exhibits retrieved from a suspect in a case which was being investigated by his station at Frankadua in the Eastern Region.
Corporal Appiah also claimed that he was instructed by his district commander to transfer the exhibits to the police head office at Akosombo.
He was arrested after his explanation had been rejected by the police. Later investigations revealed that the claims of Corporal Appiah were false.
Further investigations indicated that the suspect contacted his colleagues at Akosombo to accompany him to Obra Spot in Accra to arrest Bakry, 36, who, he alleged, was the one who gave him the parcels to be conveyed to Accra.
He said the second suspect, Bakry, was therefore arrested by the Akosombo Police and handed over to the Volta Regional Police Command.
Mr Bedie said Bakry, however, denied that he ever gave the first suspect any parcels to be conveyed to Accra for him.
According to Mr Bedie, Bakry said he only got to know Corporal Appiah some months ago when he was conveying some Indian hemp to Accra, and the first suspect (Cpl. Appiah) and his colleagues arrested him on the Adomi Bridge.
Bakry claimed that after offering them a bribe of GH¢1,500 he was released with the items after which he had since not seen the first suspect.
He further claimed that he was not aware of the current interception of Indian hemp.
The two suspects have been remanded in prison custody to re-appear on July 16.
By Tim Dzamboe/Daily Graphic/Ghana
