Asamankese, Oct. 25, GNA - Inusah Alhassan, a 53-year-old farmer, who thought he could safely peddle Indian hemp (Wee) from a cemetery at Suhum was nabbed and sentenced to 15 years by a circuit court at Asamankese on Friday.

Alhassan was convicted on his own plea of guilty.

Prosecuting, Detective Police Chief Inspector Osei Owusu told the court presided over by Mr S. S. Appiah that, on April 25, this year, the chief of the Muslim Community at Suhum Ayekotse led some Muslim youth to the Muslim old cemetery to clear the place of weeds.

He said the group on arrival, met Alhassan with three polythene bags each containing dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and he was arrested and handed over to the Police with the stuff. Mr Osei Owusu said the Police then escorted the accused to his residence and when his bedroom was searched, another polythene bag containing similar dried leaves was also found.

The exhibits were sent to the Police Forensic Laboratory for examination and the report proved that the leaves were Indian hemp. Before sentencing Alhassan, Mr Appiah who condemned the accused for desecrating the "final resting place for the Moslem dead", expressed regret that the peddling and use of narcotic drugs was on the ascendancy leading to most of the incidence of mental cases in the society.