Lawra (U/W) Dec. 14, GNA - Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) personnel have destroyed six bags of Indian hemp they intercepted at a border post near Lawra.

The destruction was carried out in the presence of representatives from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Lawra District Assembly, Ministry of Health (MOH) and Police Service. Briefing the GNA in an interview at lawra, on Monday Mr Kwame Oteng, Senior Collector of CEPS in charge of the Lawra District said the hemp weighed 240 kilograms.

He said the suspects, who were carrying the drugs, however, escaped on a motorbike. The station was given a tip off that the peddlers were carrying the stuff to nearby Burkina Faso en route to Senegal. He said upon the tip off they intensified their vigilance at the borders, and when the peddlers saw the unusual alertness, they abandoned the stuff and sped off.

He said after the interception, they received so many written threats saying that they were going to burn down the house in which the hemp was kept, hence, the immediate destruction. Mr Asher Nkegbe, Assistant Programme Officer of Environmental Protection Agency said it took two and a half-hours to burn the stuff adding that he was happy it was done in an environmentally friendly manner. He commended the officials of CEPS for thier efforts. GNA