The Tesano divisional police command in a raid of some suburbs of Accra have arrested 23 people, including three women, who are alleged to have peddled substances suspected to be narcotics.
The exercise was carried out at Dome, Abofu and Akweteman, which are all under the jurisdiction of the Tesano Divisional Police Command.
Two of the suspects, identified as Benedicta Ampong and Emelia Darko, were allegedly caught in the act of smoking some dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.
Briefing the media after the exercise, the Tesano District Police Commander, Superintendent of Police Mr Edward Tetteh, said the exercise lasted for three hours.
He said the areas raided by the police were believed to be criminal dens and that the operation was aimed at ridding the Tesano command and its environs of criminals.
The swoop, he said, was planned after the police had realised that crime incidents in the area were going up after the Christmas festivities.
After the Christmas and New Year celebrations, Mr Tetteh said, police stations in the division had been recording increasing cases of bag snatching, burglary, petty stealing, robbery and drug peddling.
During the operation, he added, “some quantities of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp and some tremor drugs were found and seized from the hide-outs of the suspected criminalsâ€.
The police have since started screening the suspects, while the substances seized are yet to be tested at the Police Forensic Laboratory.
Mr Tetteh said those found culpable would be put before court on charges of possessing dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.