The contrabands goods being offloaded from the truck
THE ACCRA Regional Police Command, in collaboration with the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), has impounded a 40-footer truck carrying contraband goods from Nigeria to Ghana.
Sani Mohammed, a 30-year-old driver in charge of the truck with registration number AE 960 JEG, has been arrested by the police to assist in investigation.
The truck was impounded at Achimota heading towards a warehouse in a yet-to-be identified location, according to police reports.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Effia Tenge, who is Regional Police Public Relations Officer for Accra, when contacted, said the truck was spotted by the police around Achimota after personnel had suspected it of carrying contraband goods.
Upon a search, she said, the police detected that the truck contained pharmaceutical products and wax prints and so they had to call on the relevant stakeholders for assistance.
DSP Tenge confirmed that the arrest of the truck driver would help the police to trace the owners of the said goods and get further information on how the goods got into the country.
A representative of the Customs Division of the GRA, Nana Yankey, in an address, said they suspected the goods were smuggled into the country using head porters since Nigeria had closed its border.
“What these smugglers do is to carry the goods through unapproved routes and after going through the normal borders, with Temporary Vehicle Importation (TVI), they drive at a distance and load these drugs back into the vehicle,” she noted.
The goods, he revealed, were currently being examined at the Airport Customs site for the necessary action to be taken.
(lindatenyah@gmail.com)
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey