GIS foils cocoa smuggling operation at Torkor
The Kpando Municipal Command of the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has impounded three trucks carrying cocoa beans at Torkor in the Volta Region.
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The trucks, suspected to be smuggling the beans out of Ghana through Wli to Togo, were impounded last Friday. A statement confirming the operation issued by the Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the GIS, Superintendent Michael Amoako-Atta, said the operation followed the diligent deployment of intelligence report received by the Kpando Municipal GIS.
It said the Officer-in-Charge, Deputy Superintendent of Immigration (DSI) Peter Austin Hall, and a team of officers were deployed based on intelligence to Kpando Torkor where a boat suspected to be coming from the Afram Plains was loaded with bags of cocoa beans.
“The officers covertly observed the offloading of the cocoa beans into three trucks, which were parked close to the landing site, ready to be smuggled through an unapproved route at Wli to Togo,” the GIS explained.
Arrests
Upon the seizure of the trucks, three persons --Wahab Abdulai, Nicholas Agbesi and Fodume, all aged 42, were arrested, with their vehicles numbered GE 1782-U, AS 7907-22 and GT 5932-12 respectively, between the hours of 12:40 a.m. and 4:00 a.m.
The suspects and trucks were subsequently handed over to the Kpando Police for further action.
See Something, Say Something
Supt Amoako-Atta re-emphasised the GIS’s resolve and commitment to protecting the country’s borders and preventing cross-border crimes; he, therefore, encouraged border residents and the general public to collaborate by sharing information and reporting any suspicious incidents.
“The GIS remains resolute in the protection of our borders and prevention of cross-border crimes. “Border residents and the general public are also applauded for continuously collaborating with the Service through information-sharing.
Citizens are encouraged to report suspicious persons and activities to the GIS and other security agencies in line with the See Something, Say Something campaign,” the statement concluded.
