The La Community Market transforms into an Indian hemp and narcotic drugs peddling facility at night, GNA investigations have revealed.

The illegal activities start at about 2000 hours when traders leave for home. The drug peddlers, including young men and women, as well as their customers, engage openly in selling, buying, smoking or inhaling drugs.

GNA noticed that most of the street lights and lights in front of shops at the market were not functioning as the nocturnal traders either destroyed the electrical connections or had smashed the bulb to create the conducive environment for their business.

A resident who wants to remain anonymous told the GNA that police patrol teams occasionally swooped on the miscreants and this had affected operations of the peddlers.

“It used to be a free for all market for the boys and girls who openly sell and smoke the drug in the market but recent police raids have discouraged most of them from smoking there. The suppliers still sell but they operate cautiously by selling to their customers,” he said.

The resident said in view of the constant police swoop, smokers now congregated at a popular spot, “After Church,” about three minutes’ walk from the market.

To demonstrate the new operational tactics of the drug peddlers to the GNA, the resident called out a young man, an apparent drug peddler, and told him he wanted some of the “stuff” but the fellow ignored the signal because of the presence of a “foreigner”.

The resident later went to him and bought a wrapped substance he claimed was Indian hemp for Ghc5.00.

Another resident, a fast food joint operator, told the GNA that most of the people came purposely to smoke but sometimes bought food and drinks.

Some of the market women also complained about the activities of the nocturnal drug peddlers.