Narcotic Exhibits Missing At Store

The officer in charge of the Narcotics Exhibits Store at the Police Headquarters has been arrested following the discovery that narcotic substances in the custody of the police have been compromised and substituted with other substances.A statement signed by the Minister of the Interior, Mr Kwamena Bartels, and issued by the Ministry of the Interior did not name the said officer but said the shady deal was uncovered during a routine audit at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service.
It said the exercise was the result of recent changes in the leadership of the CID administration.Meanwhile, the Minister of the Interior has, set up a high-powered investigative panel to probe the circumstances surrounding the breach of the security of the narcotics storeroom, the replacement of some of the substances and the extent of such replacement.
According to the statement, the investigative panel was required to look at any other matters incidental to the deal and recommend steps to prevent any future recurrence.
It said the Ghana Standards Board (GSB) was continuing to test all the narcotic substances in the custody of the CID.
The investigative panel has Mr Kojo Armah, the Member of Parliament (MP) for Evalue-Gwira, as its Chairman, with Mr S.A. Afari, Mr Mark Ewuntomah, DCOP Kwasi Nkansah (retd) and Mr J.J. Yidana of the Ministry of the Interior as members.
The acting Director of the Police Public Relations Unit, DSP Kwesi Ofori, told the Daily Graphic that it was a routine duty within the Police Service for any police officer to thoroughly check all exhibits before he or she took over on assumption of office, saying that was what was done following changes in the CID leadership.
He said when the new CID boss took over the department administratively, it was normal for him to ensure that all exhibits at his disposal were checked and it was based on that that the GSB was tasked to audit the police narcotics store.