Driver Arrested For Smuggling Live Catridges

A 28-YEAR-OLD loader of Chisco Transport Limited in Accra has been arrested for allegedly smuggling four cartons of live cartridges onto a Nigeria-bound bus.

The Greater Accra Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Kwaku Ayesu Opare-Addo, told the Daily Graphic that the suspect, Richard Akunnor, was arrested upon a tip-off that the cartridges had been concealed in St Louis sugar boxes and packed into the cartons to avoid detection.

He said Akunnor was currently assisting the police in their investigations. Mr Opare-Addo said Akunnor alleged that it was a Nigerian who had brought the items for him to put on board the vehicle.

He added that under normal circumstances, the cargo should have been weighed and tagged for identification purposes but that was not done.

He said the suspect claimed that the owner of the cartridges, whose name and residence he claimed he did not know, gave him (Akunnor) GH¢40 to put the cargo on board the vehicle.

Mr Opare-Addo said the goods were already on board the vehicle when the police moved in to arrest the suspect and intercept the goods.

According to him, the suspect claimed that the owner had been bringing items for him to put on board Nigeria-bound vehicles without going through the normal processing procedures.

Last Monday, the Accra Regional Police Command intercepted 2,987 pieces of cartridges at the Konkomba Market in Accra.

The cartridges, which had been removed from their original boxes, were concealed in sacks and were said to be bound for the Upper East Region.

Story by Albert K. Salia