Police arrest 24 suspects, seize gun and suspected narcotics in Ashanti Region

Seven young men standing shoulder to shoulder indoors against a yellow wall; faces blurred, wearing casual t‑shirts and shorts, some with bags.

By Yaw Opoku Amoako July 6, 2026

Police coordinated across multiple Ashanti Region communities have executed a synchronized intelligence-driven operation that dismantled what appears to be an organized drug trafficking apparatus, apprehending two dozen individuals and seizing weapons, narcotics and processing equipment indicative of systematic distribution networks rather than isolated street-level dealing.

The Ashanti Regional Police Command worked in tandem with the Inspector-General’s elite Special Operations Team to conduct simultaneous raids across Kodie, Apagya, Dechemso, Old Tafo Ahenbronum, Ahodwo and Abofour — a geographic spread suggesting that the criminal apparatus operated across multiple townships rather than concentrating in single locations.

The dragnet captured twenty-four individuals comprising twenty-one men and three women, a mixed cohort suggesting participation across multiple operational levels — from street-level dealers to organisational intermediaries to suspected traffickers.

One suspect, Richmond Okyere aged 49, warranted particular concern when officers recovered a pump-action firearm bearing serial number 21GN-1918 from his possession — evidence of weapons integration into trafficking operations.

The presence of firearms within drug distribution networks escalates both operational lethality and institutional alarm regarding the sophistication of criminal apparatus.

The vehicular assets seized during the operation illuminate trafficking logistics. Police recovered three automobiles including an unregistered Toyota Highlander, an unregistered Toyota Camry saloon and a registered Mercedes-Benz bearing registration AS 8724-Z, alongside an unregistered motorcycle.

Such vehicle diversity suggests utilisation of different transport mechanisms for distribution across distinct market segments.

The narcotics recovered demonstrated both breadth and industrial scale. Officers seized 489 dried leaf pieces suspected to be cannabis alongside parcels and sealed packages of additional dried botanical material suspected to be narcotic substances.

Pharmaceutical components included ninety tablets of 225mg Tramadol, one hundred forty tablets of 250mg Tramadol and eleven tablets of Royal 225mg — quantities consistent with wholesale distribution rather than personal consumption.

Yet the most revealing elements emerged from discovery of processing and consumption infrastructure.

Officers recovered thirty-eight materials utilised in processing suspected narcotics, bottles of Femude drink suspected to have been adulterated with narcotic substances, and forty locally manufactured toffees suspected to contain narcotic additions — evidence suggesting that traffickers had diversified their distribution mechanisms into consumable food products designed to mask drug introduction.

Three boxes of African Viagra alongside multiple lighters, crushers, and ash residue believed linked to narcotics use painted a portrait of sophisticated distribution apparatus incorporating pharmaceutical counterfeiting, alternative delivery mechanisms and consumption facilitation devices.

The cash discovered during the operation — amounts detained as suspected proceeds from narcotic sales — remained unquantified in the police statement but represent evidence of financial trafficking flows supporting the apparatus.

All twenty-four suspects remain in police custody assisting investigations whilst exhibits have been retained for evidentiary purposes. Upon investigative conclusion, those individuals determined to have committed criminal offences will be transferred to the judiciary for prosecution.

The Ashanti Regional Police Command has signalled commitment to continued intelligence-driven operations targeting drug distribution networks, violent crime and associated criminal activity.

Police have simultaneously appealed to the public to provide credible information regarding criminal activity through official channels, positioning citizen cooperation as essential to the sustained disruption of trafficking networks.