Police Seize More Uncustomed Wax Prints

Some of the wax prints in one of the cargo trucks

The Accra Regional Police Command has again arrested two cargo trucks with foreign registration numbers suspected to be carrying uncustomed wax prints.

They included fake and pirated wax prints of Tex Styles, formerly Ghana Textiles Printing, Printex and Akosombo Textiles Limited.

Yesterday’s arrest was the second exercise to be carried out by the police in Accra over the last two weeks. The intercepted trucks and their contents remained parked at the yard of the Regional Police Command.

Briefing the media in Accra after the arrest, the Operations Commander of the Accra Regional Command, Supt Sylvester Boyuo, said the police had a tip-off last Monday that two cargo trucks were discharging some goods suspected to be wax prints at a warehouse around the SABAT Motors yard.

Supt. Boyuo said the police followed up to the area and intercepted the trucks and escorted them to the regional headquarters.

According to the Operations Commander, the exercise was a collaboration between the police and the local textile companies, whose businesses have come under siege as a result of the activities of traders who dealt in fake wax prints.

He said the culprits in the first exercise were being processed for court and the police would expedite action and include the suspects in the latest arrest.

Mr Abraham Koomson, General Secretary of the Textiles, Garments and Leather Workers Union, said the activities of traders dealing in fake textile products was seriously threatening the survival of the textiles manufacturing companies.

He said the illicit business had created unfair competition in the industry because the designs and motifs of the textile companies, which had taken a lot of efforts to come up with, were pirated by illegal dealers and often these pirated wax prints were sold at very reduced prices because they did not pay any taxes and duties to the state.

Mr Koomson said the union would formally present a petition to the Minister of Trade and Industry and a send copy to the President.

He said the union wanted the government’s intervention by restricting the entry points of imported wax prints to the ports so that the activities of the illegal dealers could be checked.

He lamented over the dwindling fortunes of the textile industry which used to employ over 25,000 workers two decades ago but now had only 3,000 left and warned that if no deterrent measures were put in place this figure could reduce further.