They are Collins Asilevi, a laboratory technician at the hospital; John Delu, a record keeper; and Stella Kale, a community health nurse from the same facility.
According to the regional offices of the Pharmacy Council and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), the trio jointly posed as officials of a “National Drug Compliance Enforcement,” headquartered in Accra, which is a non-existent nomenclature in drug regulation.
The GNA learned that their modus operandi involved extorting and seizing medical commodities under the pretext of checking classification or expiry dates. They had succeeded in duping unsuspecting pharmacy shops and medication dealers over a period.
The pharmacy shop and owner (names withheld) suspected the trio of fraud due to the haphazard manner in which they were conducting their business, so they raised the alarm by calling the Pharmacy Council Office in Ho.
Gabriel Essel, Volta Regional Officer of the Pharmacy Council, then advised the shop owners to alert the police, which they obliged.
Suspecting imminent arrest, the trio faked going to the police to cause the arrest of the shop owners and flee, but the directive to close in on them yielded their arrest after a hot chase.
They were chased to the Akanu border and finally arrested at the police barrier at Weta Junction. They were taken to the Dzodze police station, where statements were extracted from them and they were granted bail.
Gorden Akurugu, Volta Regional Director of Food and FDA, told the GNA that the intent to mention a non-existent establishment was full proof of their guilt.
He said the regulation of drugs was a core mandate of the Pharmacy Council and the FDA, not of a laboratory technician or biomedical scientist at the facility level.
Ketu North Police Commander, Superintendent Eric Vondee, confirmed the incident and said investigations have been activated into the matter. Dr. Chrysanthus Kubio, Volta Regional Director of Health, and Dr. Sefakor Kpormegbe, Medical Superintendent of the hospital where the three are working, have failed to make any comments, saying they did not have enough information on the case.
The regional offices of the Pharmacy Council and the FDA, as regulators of food and drug commodities, are yet to be invited by the police to take statements to aid prosecution or otherwise.
