PHOTO: 3 cocoa thieves busted

• Posted on March 10, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Three suspects, including a security officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod), have been arrested by the Tema Regional Police Command for allegedly stealing a total of 206 bags of dried cocoa beans from the Akasanomaa Warehouse belonging to the cocoa company.

Suspects’ names were given as Moses Amoah 35, John Essiaw 43 – both drivers – and Frederick Baako, 30, who is the night security guard of Cocobod who were intercepted with a Kia truck with registration number GC 7088-11 loaded with the cocoa beans estimated at GH¢72,100.

The products have been offloaded at the warehouse of the cocoa company in Tema while the truck has been impounded by the police to assist in their investigations and prosecution.

Briefing DAILY GUIDE, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Juliana Obeng, the Public Affairs Manageress in-charge of the Tema Regional Police Command, said the suspects were spotted on Sunday, March 8, 2015 at dawn at the Heavy Industrial Area in the metropolis.

According to her, the suspects were intercepted by the patrol team who demanded for a waybill of the cocoa beans being conveyed, but upon interrogation the police detected that the waybill produced by the suspects was fake which raised suspicion that led to their arrest.

The beans, she said, were stolen from the Akasanomaa warehouse at the Heavy Industrial Area near the Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) and were being conveyed to an unknown location.

“The team requested for a waybill. On the waybill there was no date and place of dispatch was Oda and destination was Takoradi Port. Initial investigations revealed that they might be stolen goods belonging to the Cocoa Marketing Company,” she stated.

ASP Obeng pointed out that the suspects would be arraigned before court after investigations.

The Public Affairs Manager of the Ghana Cocoa Board, Noah Amenya, explained that such occurrences are unusual within the company but noted that his outfit had measures in place to ensure that such occurrences were curtailed.

From Vincent Kubi, Tema