Man gets 10 years for supplying students with hemp

Aflao, Dec. 2, GNA - A 38-year old visually impaired man, who traded Indian Hemp for stolen personal effects of students of the Saint Paul's Secondary School (SPACO) in Denu, was on Monday jailed 10 years by a Circuit Court at Aflao.

Lodo Kuba, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced to 10 years for possessing narcotic drugs, and 18 months for dishonestly receiving stolen items. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Six students' mattresses, four buckets, a pair of canvas shoes, two kente cloths, a quantity of partly used exercise books and old text books were retrieved from his room after his arrest.

Police said the items were believed to have been stolen and used as payment for wee, by Kuba's student clients.

Police Inspector Abraham Tetteh, in charge of Denu Police, told the Court presided over by Mr Godwin Kwasi-Kumah that the accused person, who lived at Kuba Kope, near Denu, was supplying narcotic drugs, particularly Indian hemp, to users in SPACO and surrounding villages. He said on August 13, this year, authorities of SPACO had hints that two final year students from the school had sent two pairs of stolen canvas shoes to the accused in exchange for hemp.

Inspector Tetteh said when confronted, Kuba demanded a Police Search Warrant before he would allow anybody into his room.

He said when the Police eventually got into Kuba's room, three wrappers of leaves, later certified by the Narcotic Control Board as Indian hemp, weighing 303 grammes, was found.

Inspector Tetteh said Kuba confessed dealing in narcotic drugs and told the police that students from SPACO were his main clients. He said the accused also confessed that he accepted personal effects in payment for the drugs in lieu of money.

Inspector Tetteh said the two final year students were queried and handed over to the school authorities.