Police arrest driver with 714 slabs of suspected Indian hemp
The Ashanti South Regional Police Command has seized a substantial shipment of suspected narcotics, resulting in the apprehension of a 50-year-old commercial driver in the region.
The arrest occurred on Tuesday, January 26, 2026, during a routine snap check conducted by officers from the Bekwai District Police Command at the Asanso checkpoint along the Bekwai–Aputogya road. A Mercedes-Benz Sprinter bus was intercepted by police during the operation.
A thorough search of the vehicle revealed nine nylon sacks containing a total of 714 slabs of compressed dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp. The driver, identified as Atampugri Akanyani, was immediately taken into custody for questioning.
During interrogation, the suspect informed police that the substances were handed over to him by an unknown individual at the Kejetia Lorry Terminal in Kumasi and were to be delivered to another unidentified person in Obuasi for a fee of six hundred Ghana cedis.
The police have retained the suspected narcotic substances to aid ongoing investigations, while the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter bus has been impounded.
The suspect, Atampugri Akanyani, has since been arraigned before court.
Addressing the media, the Ashanti South Regional Police Commander, DCOP Joseph Hammond Nyaaba, reaffirmed the police service’s commitment to clamping down on drug trafficking and other criminal activities across the region.
