The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, for allegedly disguising as a mentally unstable person while secretly running a cannabis farm in Awka, the state capital.

Police spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed in a statement on Thursday that operatives attached to the Operations Department apprehended the suspect during a patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway, near Ngozika Estate, on Wednesday.

According to the statement, Ojele pretended to be mentally ill to avoid suspicion while maintaining a concealed marijuana farm. Following his arrest, he led police operatives to the site, where large quantities of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa were recovered.

The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, commended the arrest, describing it as part of the command’s renewed strategy to cut off criminal supplies by targeting drug dealers who fuel cultism and violent crimes. He further directed that the suspect be transferred to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, Enugwu-Ukwu, for discreet investigation aimed at tracing his buyers and dismantling his distribution network.

Ikenga added that, in recent weeks, police operations in Ogidi, Idemili North LGA, and Ifitedunu, Dunukofia LGA, led to the arrest of no fewer than 54 suspects—39 males and 15 females—for various crimes including kidnapping, cultism, hard drug use, and possession of banned substances.

The command noted that these coordinated operations were designed to restore sanity in the state and curb the rising trend of crime among youths between the ages of 18 and 26.