The police have rounded up at least 17 sex workers following two raids in parts of Ghana’s capital, Accra.

The operation conducted by officers from the Cantonments Police Station was carried out around Oxford Street, the Togo Embassy area, and the Akufo-Addo roundabout, reported the CNR.

Eight foreigners and nine Ghanaians were arrested, according to the Director of Public Affairs at the Greater Accra Police Command, DSP Effia Tenge.

“It is part of an ongoing exercise to rid the metropolis of criminal activities especially places noted for crime”, said DSP Tenge, adding that such offenders of the country’s laws won’t be spared.

Rampant street prostitution is rife in the capital city and Kumasi, Ghana’s second-biggest city.

Women and girls, with some as young as 14, are victims of a trafficking network that benefits several people from Nigeria to Ghana, according to a report published by independent researchers.