The Minister for Defence, Dr. K. Addo Kufuor, has advised personnel of the security agencies to desist from condoning and conniving with coco smugglers. He said that any security personnel caught aiding smugglers would be dealt with severely to deter others.

Dr. Addo-Kufuor sounded the warning in an address read on his behalf at an awards ceremony for 454 purchasing clerks of OLAM Ghana Limited, a cocoa buying company. He said that measures have been instituted to ensure security alertness on the borders.

He said the fight against cocoa smugglers should be a shared responsibility among the security agencies, farmers and those living around the border towns.

Dr. Addo-Kufuor revealed that between 2001, it was estimated that the country lost over 50,000 tonnes of cocoa as a result of smuggling. The major concern now, he said should be to ensure that the enemies of the state would find it an arduous task in operating that way.

He said the Ministry appreciated the enormous efforts made by OLAM in paying a bonus of ?1 billion to farmers with the aim of discouraging cocoa farmers from selling to smugglers who offer them prices higher than the guaranteed price fixed by the government.

The Minister commended OLAM for supporting government in setting up a trust fund named Anti Cocoa Smuggling Trust Fund, which had the objective of assisting in anti-cocoa smuggling.