Smuggling of refined petroleum products from Ghana to Burkina Faso through Paga, the capital of the Kassena Nankana West District of the Upper East Region, has now been taken over by tanker drivers.

The illegal activity, which is regarded as the most lucrative business in the district, is said to be known to the security operatives in the town, but much has not been done to halt it due to their political influence.

Investigations conducted by The Finder indicate that as many as 20 tanker trucks arrive in Paga every week, but about 80% of the products end up in Burkina Faso.

Sources say the smugglers tend to make huge profits on these products when smuggled outside the country due to the differences in exchange rates between the Ghana cedi and the CFA.

For example, while a gallon of petrol sells for a little over GH?15 in Ghana, it is sold for over GH?18 in Burkina Faso.

Investigations conducted by The Finder reveal that smuggling of petroleum products across the borders to Burkina Faso is in high demand, and the products are sold at a higher price as compared to what pertains in Ghana.

In the past, owners of fuel filling stations along the Ghana-Burkina Faso border were accused of being behind the smuggling.

Now, the fuel filling stations say tanker drivers are starving them of petroleum products.

According to them, the tanker drivers change their registration numbers to that of Mali before arriving at Paga.

Consequently, they park the tankers with the petroleum products in nearby bushes.

According to sources, the smuggling takes place in the night, where the fuel is discharged into huge Jeri-cans and hidden in 207, 204 and 208 buses, as well as articulator, and tipper trucks, and pick-up trucks to cross the border into neighbouring Burkina Faso, where it is sold in foreign currencies.

The highly placed sources said Paga takes stock of about 20 tanker trucks every week and most the products are smuggled into Burkina Faso.

There are about 20 fuel filling stations in Paga town alone, which is just a stone’s throw from Burkina Faso.

These are fuel filling stations that have been registered by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA).

According to our sources, previously, people were not allowed to construct filling stations in border towns.

This was done to halt fuel smuggling, but people suddenly started constructing fuel stations in these areas without resistance from the NPA and the other regulating authorities.

Our sources indicated that owners of these fuel stations along the border with Burkina Faso are either politicians holding various political offices or are related to politicians in high office, making it difficult for the security services to strictly apply the law.

Residents in the area corroborated this information, saying these filling stations are owned by a cartel made up of politicians in high political positions in the area and well-connected business people who have been licensed by the National Petroleum Authority.

The numerous unapproved routes in the border areas also facilitate the movement of smugglers and their cargo in and out of the country.