Crime & Punishment of Wednesday, 2 June 2004

Source: GNA

Three suspected car smugglers arrested at Gambaga

Gambaga, (NR), June 2, GNA - Police in Gambaga in the East Mamprusi District have arrested three persons suspected to have smuggled four uncustomed vehicles into the country from Togo.

The cars, three Opel Kadetts and one VW Golf had faked registration numbers GR7165, GW9069R, GW1427T and AS1272U, as well as forged insurance and roadworthy stickers on them.

The suspects, whose names are being withheld for security reasons, are helping the police in their investigations.

Briefing the Ghana News Agency, the District Police Commander, Chief Superintendent Ben Atadana said the cars were intercepted at Gambaga on May 18, when the Police were on patrol duties.

He said the Police suspected the cars to have been smuggled into the country because they detected that the number plates were screwed onto the cars instead of the normal rivet of number plates. The Police also detected that all the insurance stickers were from different insurance companies but bore the same handwriting together with the roadworthy stickers.

Chief Superintendent Atadana said when the suspects were interrogated one of them confessed that they had the fake documents from Lome, Togo. Chief Superintendent Atadana said smuggling was becoming widespread along the country's borders and appealed to security agencies along the frontiers to scrutinize registration numbers, insurance and roadworthy stickers of vehicles carefully before allowing them into the country. Meanwhile, the four vehicles have been brought to the Northern Regional Police Headquarters in Tamale for further investigations. 02 June 04