A swoop by the Accra Regional Police Command has led to the arrest of eight persons who are believed to be in the business of swindling mobile phone buyers.
The suspects are Albert Annor, 27, Daniel Lovoe, 22, Prince Frimpong, 28, Abraham Abugri, 37, Ebenezer Afful, 28, Alhassan Yenusick, 37, Stickings Kpakpo, 47, and Daniel Nii Bio Lartey, 57.
The modus operandi of the suspects, according to the police, is that they showcase very expensive phones on the streets, and when an interested buyer engages them, they secretly exchange the phone for a fake one in the process of putting the phone back in its case.
Sometimes, by the time the victim realises, the so-called expensive phone that was bargained for had turned into soap or a piece of tile shaped in the form of a mobile phone.
A statement issued by the Head of Accra Regional Police Public Relation Unit and signed by DSP Juliana Obeng said the suspects were arrested in a swoop on Monday morning.
She said police over the past weeks have monitored the activities of the suspects after their intelligence indicated that the eight suspects had formed a gang at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle business enclave and were also engaged in mobile phone snatching.
“Usually, when the victim detects the fraud and attempts to return the fake phone to demand for the money, some members of the syndicate pull knives on the victim or create a scene, paving way for the seller to run away with the money,” DSP Obeng said, adding that they have so far retrieved ten of fake phones, three iPhones and a pepper spray from the suspects.
“Suspects have been detained but investigations into the case are still ongoing and they shall be arraigned before court soon,” she disclosed.
DSP Obeng entreated persons who fell victim to the syndicate to report to the Regional Police CID for identification and retrieval of their snatched phones.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey