Wa, July 12, GNA - The Police in Wa at the weekend intercepted a truck that had among its cargo, 7,000 kilogrammes of dry leaves suspected to be India hemp.

The stuff was loaded in 95 maxi bags and were concealed under 300 bags of cement in the truck with registration number UW3706C bound for Babile in the Lawra District.

Each maxi bag contained 36 to 38 compressed slabs of the narcotic drug weighing about two kilogrammes each. The police are in possession of 10 million cedis offered to them as bribe by the suspects.

The suspects are Alhassan Salifu, 38, who offered the bribe, the driver of the truck, Adam Ibrahim, 35 and his two mates Aziz Iddrisu, 22 and Kojo Ameyaw 18.

Briefing newsmen in Wa on Monday, Police Chief Superintendent Robert Ayalingo said the police had started running a ''informant system'' that had begun to yield positive results. He said one such informant at Wenchi in the Brong Ahafo Region alerted the police in Wa about the movement of the truck. Based on the information received, the truck was intercepted at the last Police barrier before it entered Wa.

''The driver initially offered 60,000 cedis to the police to influence them to allow them to continue with their journey, but when the police refused and demanded to inspect the cargo, they kept on increasing the amount until they paid 10 million cedis.'' Mr Ayalingo said the driver told the police that they loaded the suspected Indian hemp at Amponsa Krom, near Wenchi to be delivered to some people at Dapila Konta, near Babile in the Lawra District of the Upper West Region after charging six million cedis.

Mr Ambrose Dery, the Regional Minister, who was at the station to inspect the suspected drug, commended the police for the vigilance and lauded the effective collaboration that exists between the police and the citizens to combat crime.