By Maxwell Awumah
Ho, July 19, GNA – Three members of staff of the Ketu North Municipal Hospital, have allegedly been arrested by the Police at Dzodze for impersonation.
They are Collins Asilevi, a laboratory technician of 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 learnt the modus operandi involved the extorting and seizing of medical commodities, under the pretext of checking classification or expiry dates.
They had succeeded in duping unsuspecting pharmacy shops and dealers in medication over a period.
The pharmacy shop and owner (names withheld) suspected the trio of fraudsters due to the haphazard manner they were conducting their business, so they raised the alarm by calling the Pharmacy Council Office in Ho.
Mr. Gabriel Essel, Volta Regional Officer of the Pharmacy Council then advised the shop owners to alert the Police, which they obliged.
Suspecting an eminent arrest, the trio faked going to the Police to cause the arrest of the shop owners to 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 and taken to the Dzodze Police station, where statements were extracted from them and granted bail.
Mr. 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 and not of a laboratory technician or bio-medical scientist at the facility level.
Ketu North Divisional Crime Officer, Superintendent Eric Vondee, has 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 drugs commodities, are yet to be invited by the Police to take statements to aid prosecution or otherwise.
GNA