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A 42-YEAR-old Warrant Officer with the Forces Pay Office at Burma Camp in Accra has been remanded by the Ho circuit court for attempted bribery and possession of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp, popularly called wee. The soldier, whose name was given as WO II Patrick Amati, was arrested on Wednesday, July 6, 2011, at a check point at Pokoase between Asikuma and Peki in the Volta Region where he was a driving a white BMW saloon car with registration number GW 2425 P. WO II Amati had the boot and back seat of the car stuffed with 227 parcels of the suspected substance. The Volta Regional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Alex Bedie, told Daily Guide in Ho that since the arrest of Amati, he had given different versions concerning how he obtained the parcels of the suspected Indian hemp. He initially told the police that he got the wee from some three boys on his way to Todome to visit and console a former girlfriend, Afi, whose son had died. He said Amati, who was in uniform when arrested, claimed that the boys fled and left the parcels behind on seeing him and so he packed them into his vehicle. On another occasion, the suspect confessed that at Afi�s place, he met an old friend called Yahaya who gave him the parcels to be delivered to an unnamed man at the Ashaiman Roundabout, near Tema. When arrested, Amati offered to give the police GH�30,000, which they refused. Thinking it was too small, he increased the amount to GH�50,000 in return for his release which was also turned down by the police officers. ACP Bedie disclosed some investigations undertaken confirmed that Patrick visited Afi, the said girlfriend. The wee However, Yahaya�s mother told the police that her daughter had travelled for over six weeks now. Meanwhile, a check at the spot Amati claimed to have met the three boys also showed that some items were packed there and later collected. The Regional Commander noted that the police were still looking for Yahaya but in the meantime, they had sent the exhibits to the forensic laboratory at the Police Headquarters in Accra for testing while Amati has been remanded in prison custody by the Ho Circuit Court to reappear on the 22nd of this month. ACP Bedie assured Ghanaians, particularly the chiefs and people of the region, that the Volta Regional Police command was committed to eradicating the drug trade in the region to erase the notion by many that the region was the hub for Indian hemp cultivation and a distribution centre. He said this arrest should send a resounding warning to all and sundry that irrespective of one�s race, wealth, status and creed, the police would make sure the law took its course. He commended the personnel who made the arrest for being professional and resisting the bribe offered them and not allowing the uniform of the soldier to cloud their judgment.