Police mount search for driver, mate

The Adenta Divisional Police have mounted a search for a driver and his mate for abandoning a Hyundai mini bus full of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.

The two are alleged to have abandoned the bus when personnel from the Highway Police Patrol and Visibility Department pursued them after they had sped off when the police signalled them to stop.

A driver’s licence bearing the name Kwame Ofori, 36, was retrieved from the vehicle when it was towed to the Adenta Police Station.

Six jute bags of dried leaves and 109 compressed dried leaves wrapped in plastic were found during a search on the bus.

Suspicion

Briefing journalists in Accra Wednesday, the Adenta Divisional Police Commander, Chief Superintendent of Police Mr Martin Ayiih, said about 4:30 p.m. on August 29, 2015, policemen on duty at the Adenta-Dodowa Road Junction spotted the sacks in the bus, with registration number GT 4680 -14, and became suspicious of the contents.

When they tried to stop the bus, the driver sped off towards Madina, he said.

According to him, the police pursued the driver, who branched off the main road towards the P&E Engineers area, possibly to avoid being caught in traffic.

"Fortunately, the road was blocked and so the vehicle got trapped at the dead end of the road," Mr Ayiih said.

He said the driver and another occupant of the mini bus suspected to be the driver's mate, took to their heels.

He said the police team reported the matter to the Adenta Police, which in turn moved to the site to tow the vehicle to the Adenta Police station.

Investigations, he said, were continuing into the case.