The Asamankese Police Command in the Lower West Akim Municipality of the Eastern Region is holding a Kia truck driver, David Nartey to assist in investigating the alleged smuggling of cocoa beans loaded in drums.
The driver was transporting 35 drums of cocoa beans in a KIA vehicle with a registration number ER 856-14 from a location yet to be known to Accra.
He was grabbed by the Intelligence Unit of Ghana Cocobod together with the Asamankese District Police Command at Asuokaw, near Asamankese.
The Director of Special Services, Ghana Cocobod, Charles Amenyaglo, who visited the police station last Saturday, confirmed to DGN Online that his outfit had the information about the smuggling of the beans, which he informed the Police about tracking the vehicle and confiscating it.
According to him, the smugglers intentionally loaded the beans in drums and packed them in the Kia vehicle like cooking oil before transporting them to Accra to cross the border.
He said when the Police ambushed them, the suspects run away and later the driver showed up at the police station that he is the owner of the vehicle.
The KIA driver alleged that he was contracted at a lorry station by some top men, names yet to be mentioned to load the cocoa beans to Accra.
He explained that a preliminary check from one of the drums saw that each drum contains 144kg of the cocoa bean loaded in the vehicle.
He said COCOBOD will continue to work with Security Agencies to thwart the efforts of smugglers and called for the public to volunteer information to help arrest culprits.
He assured anonymity and reward for all informants.
However, he expressed worry about how People have been illegally transporting, and smuggling, cocoa beans between Ivory Coast and neighboring Ghana for many years.
Meanwhile, the police have since declared the other suspects wanted as the driver is in custody assisting in investigation., In Ghana, the law requires Cocoa farmers to sell their cocoa beans to certified purchasing Clerks who act as agents of the Cocoa Marketing Company, a subsidiary of COCOBOD which oversees the purchase of cocoa beans on behalf of the government.
Ghana recorded a shortfall of 300,000 metric tonnes of cocoa in the 2021/2022 crop seasons, the lowest in 15 years due to a myriad of challenges including over-aged plants and climate change.
There are fears that smugglers would worsen the shortfall in the current crop year if not nipped in the bud.
Cocoa smuggling between Ghana and Ivory Coast is quite common, with its directions shifting back and forth depending on the price difference between the two countries.
BY DanielBampoe