Three prison officers and five convicts have been put before the Nsawam Magistrate Court for allegedly possessing 299 wrappers of Indian hemp.
The convicts, who inserted various quantities of the Indian hemp into their anus, mentioned the prison officers as their suppliers when they appeared in court last Friday.
The three officers, Sergeant Moses Nwanwo, Sergeant Samuel Kufoalor and Corporal George Mensah, who pleaded not guilty and were granted GH¢5,000 each bail with a surety to be justified, were sent back to cells for not being able to meet the court's demand.
The pleas of the five convicts, Kwasi Agyeman, David Oppong, Kwadwo Adams, Moses Tei and Alex Korankye, who are currently serving various sentences in jail for stealing, were not taken and were remanded to reappear together with the officers on January 21, 2010.
Prosecuting Police Inspector Alex Cosmos told the court presided over by Mr Yaw Twumasi-Ankrah that the three prison officers on Friday January 1, 2010, took the convicts to work at the prisons farm.
He said the officers took the convicts to a nearby village called Alafiah to purchase Tusker cigarette and some dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.
The prosecutor said the convicts smuggled some of the dried leaves, which they inserted into their anus and brought them into the prison yard that same day.
The prosecutor said on January 2, this year, the convicts went back to the same farm to work and they managed to put the remaining substances into
their anus.
He said when they arrived at the prison gate the prison officers on duty became suspicious and therefore conducted a search on them where the suspected Indian hemps were extracted from their anus.
Inspector Cosmos said on January 5, a report was made to the police and during interrogation, the convict identified the three prison officers as their suppliers.