Crime & Punishment of Wednesday, 23 January 2019

Source: starrfmonline.com

‘Drug addicts’ clash with Police, one stabbed at Oda

Akyem Oda is one of the notorious areas in the Eastern region in terms of peddling of narcotic drugs Akyem Oda is one of the notorious areas in the Eastern region in terms of peddling of narcotic drugs

A decision by the Akyem Oda Police to clamp down on drug peddlers and drug hotspots in the area has been met with violent resistance leading to the injury of a Police officer.

Akyem Oda is one of the notorious areas in the Eastern region in terms of peddling of narcotic drugs.

Some efforts were made over the years which led to the arrest of some of the drug lords in 2016 but they were left off the hook after they allegedly bribed the then Divisional Police Commander Ebenezer Ampofo.

The Commander was interdicted but was later reinstated. The Police officer, Abu Isahaku, who made the arrest was transferred to a rural area in the Northern region for challenging the Divisional Commander over the release of the drug kingpins.

The canker has reportedly resurfaced strongly compelling the Oda Police to take radical action to nip it in the bud.

Report indicate that, the Oda Police Patrol Team led by Corporal Maxwell Abbey recently invaded one of the drug ghettos popularly known as Nima where the Police retrieved ten (10) whitish substances suspected to be cocaine, Sixty-two (62) tablets of tramadol, one hundred and Eleven (111) wrap of leaves suspected to be Indian Hemp and cash of Ghc376 which was the proceeds made out of the drug sale.

Police arrested the drug Kingpin, Kwadwo Gyimah, 36, but his arrest angered a group of drug addicts who launched an attack on the Police Team and in the process inflicted knife wounds on a member of the patrol team – Lance Corporal Edmund Lartey – while causing damage to their motorbikes.

The team, however, managed to hold the suspect and brought him to the Oda Police for prosecution.

The Police officer has been treated and discharged while the suspect remains in custody.