Three narcotic suspects who tried to transport 88 compressed parcels of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp aboard a Sunyani based Yutong Bus but were arrested by the police in the Brong Ahafo Region, have appeared before a Sunyani Magistrate Court.

The 3, Emmanuel Attah, 19, a spinner, Akwesi Opoku 36, a driver, and Efa Samuel 26, a farmer, were arrested on 5 January, 2017, at about 5:30 am at Abesim near Sunyani as they travelled aboard a Yutong Bus with the registration number GT 5246-16 together with other passengers. According to the police, they were arrested by a police patrol team upon police intelligence gathering, Brong Ahafo Regional Police PRO Sampson Gbande told DAILY GUIDE.

Upon interrogation, the suspects told police they were travelling from Banda in Tain District of the Brong Ahafo Region to a destination the police are yet to identify, though the bus was on its way to Kumasi, the Asante regional capital.

According to Sampson Gbande, they were arraigned before the Sunyani Magistrate Court B presided over by his Worship Fred Obikyere the next day. They have been charged with possession and trafficking of narcotic substance without lawful authority. The judge therefore remanded them into prison custody to reappear on 20th January, 2017.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE, Sampson Gbande said the arrest formed part of an exercise code-named ‘Father Christmas’ to monitor activities of criminals before, during and after the Christmas and New Year holidays saying, it has yielded positive results.

According to him, after the Yutong bus was stopped, all the passengers on board were asked to identify their luggage and the 3 suspects identified their items in 3 different black bags containing the parcels. When it was searched, 88 parcels of dried leaves were found in the bags.