VR: Tension at Police Command over Missing Narcotic Exhibits – Officers Victimized, Threatened With Interdiction

There is growing tension at the Volta Regional Police Command following damning reports of victimization and gross disregard for laid down procedures at the command, Ghananewsonline.com.gh has learnt.

Sources close to the command told this portal that, exhibits of narcotic substances seized from criminals have either gone missing from the storage, or cannot be accounted for and criminals arrested with the substances released with no tangible explanation.

According to a senior police officer attached to the regional Criminal Investigations Department (CID), who pleaded to remain anonymous, officers who have the courage to question these happenings are either victimized or threatened with transfers from the command, apparently to keep them silent.

Our source revealed that these unprofessional conducts began sometime in April 2023, when some individuals were arrested by the Ketu South Police Command, with substances believed to be narcotics and were transferred to the regional command for further investigations.

The source said the prosecutor on the case only realized that the substances (narcotics) could not be found when it was time to tender them in court as evidence during prosecution.

Our source pointed accusing fingers at some senior police officers at the regional command, alleging that the substances may have been resold to the criminals behind the illegal drug trade and the suspects released for lack of evidence.

“As I speak to you now, they (senior officers) are alarmed and are quickly running to the Attorney General to assist them with a court order to enable them burn the exhibits.

Meanwhile, they have sold out most of the actual exhibits and replaced them with replica and substandard material. The cargo trucks and some KIA trucks that were arrested with the exhibits were released without court orders after taking huge sums of money from the culprits,” our source said.

The source added: “The Crime Officer, in the person of Supt. Omari Boakye, the PID Director, DSP Alex Adade Yeboah, the Staff Officer, DSP Felix Danku and their pet boys Inspector David Afriyie, Cpl Samuel Owusu, and Cpl Abdul Rashid are the people they use to arrest, take monies and after that sell the exhibits again for money – meanwhile, these officers are not trained narcotic officers.

Because of their selfish and corrupt interests, the real trained officers have all been sidelined and those who were bold enough to raise concerns victimized with transfer and interdiction,” the source lamented.

The source appealed to the Inspector General of Police (IGP), the Interior Minister and the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) to intervene especially in the large arrests involving cannabis in the region.

“Between 2023 till date all huge arrests made on narcotics from Denu, Keta and Anyrawase Police, all suspects have been released together with all the exhibits and millions of Ghana cedis taken – Infact not even a single case has been investigated.

“The officers are so corrupt that anybody who dares to stand in their way is transferred under strange circumstances.

“They always claim to be well connected at Police Headquarters in Accra and that nobody can do anything to them. They have so far caused the transfer of well principled and hardworking officers like the former crime officer in the person of ACP Anyidoho, the judicial officer popularly called Jupol and some other junior officers,” the source indicated.

“Can you imagine that the Crime Officer has taken big money with the promise of killing some of the famous narcotics cases in court, hence his reasons for transferring investigators handling all such cases to very far places in Ashanti, North and the Upper regions?

Because in the absence of the investigator, if the accused persons fail to attend court after sometime, the judge would be compelled to discharge the people for want of prosecution,” the source pointed out.

These developments bring to question the commitment of the Police to deal with these unscrupulous individuals behind the rising illegal drug trade and their ability to enforce the law on the menace in the region.

Meanwhile, frantic efforts by our news team to verify the authenticity or otherwise of these reports at the command, have so far proved futile.

By Leo Nelson || Ghananewsonline.com.gh