Crime & Punishment of Friday, 12 March 2010

Source: GNA

Police, Community Watch Committee Take on Smugglers

Kpassa (V/R), March 12, GNA - A joint police task force and the Kpassa Community Watch Committee on Thursday impounded two unlicensed motor bikes and quantities of fuel in jerry cans abandoned by fuel smugglers after a hot chase.

Mr Douglas Kumah, Nkwanta District Police Commander who briefed the in the Volta Region. He said in one of their operations, the team encountered four unlicensed motor bikes carrying 30 litters each of fuel bound for Sarakawa in neighbouring Togo. He said in the ensuing chase, two of the riders abandoned their bikes and fled into the forest while two others escaped with the fuel they were carrying. He said Mr Bowati Bamule, 39, a member of the Watch Committee, was knocked off his motor bike by one of the smugglers, as a result of which he sustained a fracture in his leg.

Mr Kumah said investigations were underway to trace the owners of the abandoned bikes. He cautioned fuel station owners and attendants to be extra vigilant and to report would-be fuel smugglers to the law enforcement agencies.