50 nabbed, tramadol and narcotics seized as Police storm Madina market in major drug bust
A sweeping anti-narcotics swoop on one of Accra’s busiest commercial enclaves has put 50 people behind bars and netted a significant haul of controlled substances, as the Ghana Police Service signals a hardening stance against drug networks embedded in public markets.
The IGP Special Operations Team descended on the Madina Market enclave in the Greater Accra Region on Thursday, May 7, zeroing in on the web of individuals allegedly involved in moving and selling narcotic substances in the area.
At a press conference the following day, Director-General of Police Operations, Emmanuel Teye Cudjoe, laid out the details of the crackdown.
Of the 50 people taken into custody — 46 men and four women — initial screening established that 25 are Ghanaian nationals.
The remainder represent a cross-section of West African nationalities: 13 Nigerians, nine Nigeriens, and one each from Mali, Togo and Burkina Faso.
Two individuals within the group have been singled out as central figures in the criminal operation — Abigail Oku, 26, and a Nigerian national named Mohammed Zaya, both of whom police believe functioned as kingpins coordinating activities in the enclave.
Two other Nigerians, Yousef Abubakar, 25, and Ahmadu Alfani, 43, have been identified as shop owners who allegedly used their premises as fronts for drug sales and distribution.
Among the items recovered during the operation were 230 boxes of tramadol with an estimated value of GH¢130,000, 49 boxes of wrappers worth GH¢26,000, ten parcels of Indian hemp valued at GH¢15,000, 13 boxes of crashes, as well as mobile phones, scissors, knives and other materials suspected to be linked to Narcotics.
The combined street value of all seized exhibits is estimated at GH¢200,000.
All 50 detainees, along with the confiscated items, have been transferred to the National Operations Department Directorate Headquarters, where investigations are continuing.
The Ghana Police Service served notice that operations of this nature will become an increasingly regular feature of its efforts to dismantle drug supply chains operating within markets, neighbourhoods and other public spaces nationwide.
Comments (0)