The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, for allegedly disguising himself as a mentally unstable person while secretly cultivating a cannabis farm in Awka, the state capital.
The Spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, stated in a press release on Thursday that operatives attached to the operations department arrested the suspect during a patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway, near Ngozika Estate, on Wednesday.
The statement read in part, “The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, who pretended to be mentally unstable while secretly cultivating a marijuana farm in Awka, the state capital.
“The police operatives attached to the Operations Department, Awka, nabbed the suspect on September 17, 2025, during a routine patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway near Ngozika Estate.
“He later led the team to the hidden farm, where large quantities of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa were recovered.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, noted that the arrest reflects the Command’s renewed strategy of cutting off criminal supplies by targeting drug dealers who embolden cultists and violent offenders.”
According to him, the CP further directed that the suspect should be handed over to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, Enugwu-Ukwu, for discreet investigation to trace his buyers and dismantle the wider distribution network.
PUNCH Online had reported that the police command has arrested no fewer than 54 suspects, comprising 39 males and 15 females, for various offences ranging from kidnapping, cultism, hard drugs and banned substances.
Ikenga said the arrests were followed by coordinated raids by police operatives in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area, and Ifitedunu, Dunukofia LGA, in separate raid operations.
According to him, the coordinated operations were in line with renewed strategies aimed at restoring sanity in the state and curbing the growing menace of crime among young people between 18 and 26 years.
