Jasikan: Court remands driver, Nigerian national over suspected narcotics haul

The Jasikan Circuit Court has remanded a 50-year-old driver and a 25-year-old Nigerian national for alleged narcotics trafficking, after police said they found a large quantity of suspected Indian hemp hidden in a cargo truck.

The two accused — Justice Nelson Amlado, a driver from Kpando in the Volta Region, and Olayele Yussuf, a Nigerian from Oyo State with no fixed address in Ghana — have been charged with conspiracy and narcotics trafficking. They pleaded not guilty and were remanded into police custody to return to court on March 5, 2026.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Seth-Vincent Kpodo told the court, presided over by Mr Lambert Y. Kerigah, that police at the Jasikan District Command acted on intelligence received between February 13 and February 15 that a cargo truck would move from Hohoe through Likpe and Jasikan towards Nkwanta.

He said officers mounted surveillance along the route and, in the early hours of February 15 at about 4:00 a.m., intercepted a Benz cargo truck, registration number GS 3831-09, at Bodada, with Amlado driving and Yussuf on board.

According to the prosecution, an initial check suggested the truck was empty, but a more detailed inspection uncovered a newly built inner compartment. The vehicle was then taken to the Jasikan Police Station, where a welder was brought in to open the hidden section in the presence of the accused persons.

DSP Kpodo said officers retrieved 1,482 compressed parcels of a substance suspected to be Indian hemp, allegedly concealed in the compartment. The suspects were arrested and the exhibits kept for investigations.

He added that on February 16, the parcels were sent to the Oti Regional office of NACOB in Jasikan for testing, which was conducted in the presence of the accused and other witnesses. The prosecution said the laboratory report confirmed the substance tested positive for Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), indicating it was narcotics.