Laide Raheem, Abeokuta

Police in Ogun State have arrested a 19-year-old teen, James Tiva, and three others with 42 bags of weed suspected to be Indian hemp.

James and his accomplices, Anayor Okechukwu, 25, John Chidi, 32, and Felix Tehemeh, 20, were arrested  Saturday at Ijebu Igbo in Ijebu North Local Government Area of the state.

In a statement on Sunday by the state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, the arrest of the suspects followed a tip received by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Ijebu Igbo police station, that some Indian hemp farmers were planning to pass through the town with the weed.

Upon receiving the information, the DPO, SP Kaseem Solotan, quickly mobilised his men and headed straight to the forest where the suspects were said to be coming from.

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The suspects were accosted on their way and four of them were apprehended with 42 bags containing weed suspected to be Indian hemp.

Preliminary investigation, according to Oyeyemi, revealed that the suspects have a large expanse of land inside the forest where the cannabis is planted on a yearly basis.

Related: NDLEA nabs 67year-old man over cannabis cultivation in Gombe

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Bashir Makama, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) for investigation.

He commended members of the public for their alertness and provision of necessary information that led to the arrest of the suspects.

Makama directed that a comprehensive investigation that would lead security agencies to the site of the cannabis plantation be carried out without further delay.