An Anti-cocoa smuggling task force has intercepted more than 132 bags of cocoa beans at two different places near the border with Cote d’Ivoire in the Aowin District in the Western Region.
The formation of the task force, put together by the Aowin District Assembly and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), became necessary following the alleged increase in cocoa smuggling to neighbouring countries because of the perceived high prices of the commodity in that country.
Interceptions
A member of the district task force, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Ebenezer Anim Ofori said the team intercepted 60 bags of cocoa on the Adonikrom-Motoso road leading to Cote d’Ivoire.
Mr Ofori said a cocoa purchasing clerk, said to be an employee of the Produce Buying Company (PBC), Andrews Adjei, was driving the KIA truck with registration number, AW 1593 W which was carrying the cocoa beans when he was arrested.
Boinso
He said the task force intercepted another 72 bags of cocoa at Boinso which were also being transported to Cote d’Ivoire.
He said the driver and his assistant on the KIA truck, with registration number, AS 1992-11, escaped arrest and abandoned the vehicle.
The leader of the task force
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Aowin who led the operations, Mr Oscar Ofori Larbi, said the task force would not relent in dealing with cocoa smuggling to neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire.
He gave the assurance that the task force would collaborate with other districts that shared borders with Cote d’Ivoire to make smuggling unattractive to smugglers.
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