Bolgatanga, Feb. 5 GNA The Police on Tuesday arrested three persons conveying nine boxes containing 11,175 live BB and AA cartridges at the Binguri Police check point near Bawku. The three persons are the driver of the Benz Bus, Emmanuel Owusu Baako, that was carrying the ammunition and his two assistants, Antwi Stephen and Kofi Fosu.

The Upper East Regional Commander of Police, Mr. Ofosu Mensah Gyeabour,

who briefed the press in Bolgatanga, said the bus was stopped at the check- point for routine inspection when the nine packing cases were opened and found to contain the ammunition. He said, while there was a semblance of peace in the Bawku area, the Police and other security agencies continued to receive information about smuggling of arms and so had intensified spot checks and diligent searches of all vehicles, Motor-bikes, donkey carts and persons entering Bawku and its environs.

"We are determined to ensure that peace returns to Bawku", he said, adding that there was a ban on carrying of arms and ammunition in the area that all had to respect.

The Benz bus with registration number GS2223Y had since been impounded while the three men were in Police custody. Two other persons were last weekend arrested at separate check-points in Bawku with locally manufactured pistols and ammunition and are in Police custody in Bolgatanga. They are, Alhassan Hamza, a native of Manga and Sumaila Seidu, from Misiga, both communities near Bawku.