Six persons have been arrested by the Marine Police Unit in Tema in connection with an alleged attempt to import arms and ammunitions into the country illegally from Turkey.

The arrest follows the discovery of 436 pistols and 26 packs of ammunitions consisting of 50 pieces each in a pack which were concealed in personal effects made up of clothing, shoes and bags among other items in a 20-footer container with a declaration number 40920230853.

An agent with Crystal Shipping who was arrested in an attempt to clear the consignment at the Tema Port of Friday, October 9, 2020, led the police to arrest five others on Saturday October 10.

The five are said to be owners of the various parcels in the container.

According to a report by Graphic Online, sources at the Port said officials of the Tema Customs Command detected the weapons were detected during physical examination exercise on the container at the Terminal Three facility and they informed the Marine Police Unit and other security agencies at the port.

Confirming the incident to the news portal, the Commander of the Marine Police Unit, Joseph Antwi-Ababio, noted that further investigations were being carried out to ascertain the purpose for the importation.

Commissioner General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ammishadai Owusu-Amoah, said the guns and the ammunitions were being kept at the GRA’s armoury to allow for investigations.

“For now, I can’t say whether the importers had the necessary licences permitting them to undertake the importation of the arms since our officers at the port did not find any documentations covering the gun imports,” Owusu-Amoah said.

He further noted that the importers and agent responsible for the items failed to list the pistols and ammunitions on the import declaration form that had the other items listed on it.