Marijuana grower to spend 10 years in jail

The Juaso Circuit Court, presided over by Mr. Fredrick Tetteh, has sentenced a 54-year old marijuana grower at Kwahu-Ahodwo, to 10 years imprisonment.

Yaw Asante had illegally entered the North Formanso Forest Reserve to establish a marijuana farm intercropped with cocoa and plantain.

He pleaded not guilty to the offence but the court ruled otherwise at the end of the trial that lasted for eight months.

Police Detective Sergeant Princeton Peasah Darkwah said he was arrested in January based upon a tip off.

The Range Officer for the Reserve received information that the convict was living in right inside the forest, where he had put 3.5 hectares stretch of the reserve under marijuana, cocoa and plantain cultivation.

The police moved in to apprehend him and samples of the hemp plant sent for forensic laboratory examination proved that it was indeed marijuana.

Source: GNA