The President’s Office Upper East Regional Police Command has arrested 14 people suspected of cultivating and distributing narcotic drugs (Indian hemp) in Ghana’s Upper East Region.
The suspects were arrested on Sunday, 16 August 2026, at Daliga, a community in the Nabdam District, during an intelligence-led operation conducted jointly by the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID) and the newly formed Black Cobra Team.
A press release issued on Monday, 17 August 2026, by the Upper East Regional Police Command named the suspects as: Alex Nyaaba, 63; Charles Kolog Dombil, 30; Ziimi Pandam, 45; Jennifer Ziimi, 30; Tobire Naab, 70; James Yinteng, 59; and Sandenab Peelim, 35.
The others are: Abane Zamgbeog, 48; Borimi Nahou, 29; Tobil Wandabil, 27; Gurimi Nabdok, 29; Nahou Dogobila, 41; Teng Gurimi, 26; and Kugeri Gurimi, 20.
A search during the operation, according to the press release, led to the discovery of a large quantity of suspected narcotic drugs concealed in sacks of millet and maize.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspected Indian hemp is cultivated alongside millet and maize to conceal the farms and evade detection.
“The suspects are also believed to be major suppliers of narcotic drugs to several drug peddlers operating across the region,” reads a portion of the press release.
Background: President Mahama lauds police efforts
The arrests come days after President John Dramani Mahama publicly commended the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, the police in Upper East and other state security officers for their work in improving security in the region.
President Mahama noted that armed robbery and motorbike snatching, which were previously rampant in the area, had declined significantly.
He attributed the drop largely to support from key stakeholders and the Inspector-General of Police’s Special Operations Team.
“Upper East is safer now than it was before,” he said. “A lot of the motorbike snatching, armed robbery and others have significantly reduced.”
“That is because of the work the IGP and his people have been doing,” he added.
The president made the remarks when he addressed a public forum dubbed “Citizens Engagement” on Friday, 14 August 2026, as part of a two-day working visit to the region.
A Flashback
On Tuesday, 5 May 2026, the Upper East Regional Police Command arrested four members of a suspected armed robbery gang during an intelligence-led operation Gban, a suburb of Talensi District. They were Amadu Rahman, Abdulai Ibrahim, Adu Yakubu and Amadu Sulemana alias Saaga.
According to the police, the gang had terrorised Gban and parts of Upper East and North East regions for years. They confessed to multiple armed robberies, including hijacking four motorbikes and phones in Gban on 4 May 2026, and a viral raid on Viikandi Investment phone shop in Bolgatanga on 22 March 2025.
During interrogation, the suspects admitted to robberies along the Yagaba-Fumbisi and Yagaba-Nanguruma roads, and at Gbane mining sites where gold and cash were stolen. They later led police to retrieve an AK-47 rifle with serial number 68100563 and 87 rounds of ammunition buried near Biung.
DCOP John Ferguson Dzineku, who became Upper East Regional Police Commander in mid-2025, was widely credited for the crackdown.
Development watchers said the regional commander, who is also a lawyer, had made the police more “proactive, fair and firm,” helping to restore public confidence in the region.
Source: Edward Adeti/Media Without Borders/mwbonline.org/Ghana/West Africa
