By Izunna Okafor

Copyright 247ureports

By Izunna Okafor, Awka

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, identified as Patrick Ojele, for allegedly cultivating a concealed marijuana farm in Awka while disguising himself as a mentally unstable person.

According to a press release issued on Thursday by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, the suspect was apprehended on September 17, 2025, by operatives attached to the Operations Department, Awka, during a routine patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway near Ngozika Estate.

Ikenga explained that the suspect, who had been parading himself as a lunatic for over two years, eventually led the police team to a hidden farmland where large quantities of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa were discovered and recovered.

He noted that preliminary findings revealed that the man had been secretly operating the farm for a long period, while using the guise of insanity to deflect suspicion from residents and security agents in the area.

Reacting to the development, the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, CP Ikioye Orutugu, said the arrest was another outcome of the Command’s renewed operational strategy aimed at cutting off criminal supplies, especially hard drugs, which he described as a major fuel for cultism, violence, and other serious crimes in the state.

The CP further directed that the suspect be transferred to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad (SPACS), Enugwu-Ukwu, for discreet investigation. He stressed that investigators would trace the suspect’s buyers, dismantle the wider distribution network, and ensure that everyone involved in the illegal trade is brought to justice.

According to SP Ikenga, the Command reaffirmed its commitment to keeping the state safe, warning that no criminal disguises would shield offenders from the long arm of the law.

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