Four Arrested For Alleged Involvement In Cocoa Smuggling Operation At Kwahu Nketepa

• Four persons, including a driver and his assistant, have been arrested for their alleged involvement in a smuggling operation in Kwahu Nketepa
• They were arrested while offloading bags of cocoa onto a waiting canoe to be transported to Togo
• The Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Task Force carried out the arrest with the support of the Nketepa Community Watchdog Committee

Four persons have been taken into police custody for their alleged involvement in a cocoa smuggling operation at Kwahu Nketepa in the Afram Plains South District of the Eastern Region.

The National Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Task Force effected the arrest with the help of the Nketepa community watchdog committee.

Following the arrests, two KIA trucks loaded with 400 bags of cocoa meant to be smuggled into Togo were seized.

The four suspects, including a driver and his assistant, were offloading the cocoa bags onto a waiting canoe for transportation when the joint team pounced on them.

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The Assembly Member for Nketepa Electoral Area, Bosu Yaw, urged the government to support the community watchdog committee in enhancing its surveillance and monitoring efforts.

The team lead of the Nketepa Watchdog Committee, Anthony Ablor, also called for closer collaboration with security agencies to help protect the community.

According to him, armed robbery gangs and armed smugglers in the area pose a daily threat to community members.

Between May and June 2024, the National Anti-Cocoa Smuggling Taskforce, through its intensified surveillance, arrested over 20 people and confiscated thousands of cocoa bags in the Kwahu enclave that were being shipped to neighbouring Togo.

Cocoa farmers turn to smuggling

YEN.com.gh reported that Ghana's cocoa sector, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the nation's GDP, heavily relies on smallholder farmers.

These growers, however, have found themselves in an increasingly precarious situation due to the depreciation of the cedi.

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The cedi has lost over 20 per cent of its value against the dollar this year, severely impacting the profitability of cocoa farming even as international prices topped $10,000 per tonne in March before receding in recent months.

The situation has pushed many of these farmers to smuggle their goods to Togo, where they can fetch more money.

Proofread by Samuel Gitonga, Copy Editor at YEN.com.gh

Source: YEN.com.gh