About 1,490 slabs of dried leaves, suspected to be marijuana, were seized at Atikpui, a border town, near Ho, in the Volta Region, by the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) on Sunday.
The GIS, however, could not arrest the suspects carrying the dried leaves, who numbered between five and 10, as they fled to Togo when they saw the GIS personnel approaching.
The operation by the GIS, which took place after midnight, foiled an attempt by the cross-border narcotics thugs to smuggle the consignment into neighbouring Togo.
Chief Superintendent AlhajiAbdulaiZakaria, Nyive Sector Commander of the GIS, who confirmed the story to the Ghanaian Times, said that the operation followed surveillance and intelligence gathering by the GIS.
He said that the GIS received information that an unidentified group of people were attempting to smuggle goods from Atikpui across River Tordze into Togo.
Chief Sup Zakaria said based on that, the Border Patrol Unit of GIS informed their counterparts at Nyive GIS Command, after which a team of personnel was dispatched to Atikpui.
He said as soon as the team arrived at the scene the suspects bolted, and the personnel chased them to no avail as they fled into Togo.
The GIS Nyive Sector Commander said that preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects transported the consignment of dried leaves on a bus to Atikpui for another vehicle to convey it to Togo.
He said that a motorbike found at the scene was impounded by the GIS team and the dried leaves handed over to the Narcotics Control Commission, in Accra.
Meanwhile, Mr Divine Bosson, Ho Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), has commended the people of Atikpui and surrounding communities for cooperating with the security agencies in the fight against cross-border crime.
FROM ALBERTO MARIO NORETTI, ATIKPUI
