The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) has impounded a Kia truck full of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis at Buokono, near Asesewa in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region.

NACOB, in the latter part of 2017 said it had a tip-off on a boat from Dzemeni in the Volta Region, which was loaded with cannabis and had offloaded its content onto a truck at a village near Asesewa with its final destination being Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region.

A statement by the anti-drug agency on the operation Thursday said “NACOB in collaboration with the District Police Command at Asesewa intercepted the said truck with registration number ER 105-13 and arrested the driver, one Stephen Narteh Sangmortey, whiles his accomplice fled upon sensing danger when security officers stopped their vehicle for checks.

“A search conducted on the truck revealed sacks filled with dried leaves suspected to be cannabis, packed onto the bucket of the truck and covered with a tarpaulin. In all, 124 sacks all containing dried leaves suspected to be cannabis sativa (wee) were retrieved from the truck".

“These comprised 72 sacks of compressed dried leaves and 52 sacks of uncompressed dried leaves, all suspected to be cannabis. The 72 sacks of compressed dried leaves were further found to contain 4,326 slabs of compressed cannabis".

The estimated gross weight of the seized cannabis is 5 tonnes, with street value of approximately half a million Ghana Cedis (GH 500,000). The purported owner of the consignment is one Nicholas Lartey (a.k.a Nharyo) who is currently at large. The driver of the truck, Stephen Narteh Sangmortey was put before court and subsequently remanded in prisons custody”, the statement read.