The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man who allegedly pretended to be mentally challenged while secretly running an Indian hemp farm for two years.

The suspect, a native of Awka, the state capital, was apprehended on September 17, 2025, by operatives attached to the Operations Department during a routine patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway near Ngozika Estate, Awka.

Police spokesperson, Tochukwu Ikenga, confirmed the arrest in a statement, disclosing that the suspect led officers to the hidden farm, where large quantities of weeds suspected to be Cannabis sativa were recovered.

Ikenga further noted that the State Commissioner of Police, Ikioye Orutugu, had directed that the suspect be handed over to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad (SPACS), Enugwu-Ukwu, for discreet investigation aimed at tracing his buyers and dismantling the wider distribution network.

Quoting the Commissioner, Ikenga said the arrest reflects the command’s renewed strategy of cutting off criminal supplies by targeting drug dealers who embolden cultists and violent offenders.