634 bags of cocoa confiscated in a smuggling bust

The National Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Task Force of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) has successfully confiscated 634 bags of cocoa beans that were being smuggled out of Ghana in the Eastern Region.

The operation was the result of over a month of sustained intelligence-led efforts.

On April 15, a truck carrying 504 bags of cocoa beans, hidden within poultry feed products, was seized.

Another 130 bags of cocoa beans, concealed under gravel in a tipper truck, were confiscated on May 7 in Mpraeso, Kwahu South Municipality.

The suspects were trailed from Suhum to Kwahu Adawso, where they were intercepted while attempting to cross the Afram River by ferry, as they tried to exit the Volta Region towards Togo.

The suspects, Kwasi Edem, 55, and Dennis Hodo, 28, a tipper truck driver, are currently in police custody at the Mpraeso Central Police Station, assisting with investigations.

Meanwhile, the police have concluded an investigation into the first arrest and will arraign the suspect on Wednesday, May 8.

Emmanuel Atta Ofori-Snr, Municipal Chief Executive for Kwahu South, confirmed to Agoo FM that National Security had identified the Kwahu area as a transit point for smugglers since last year.

As a result, the District Security Council has been on high alert to curb such activities.