More than 130 bags of cocoa beans have been intercepted by an anti-smuggling task force at two different places near the border with Cote d’Ivoire in the Aowin District in the Western Region.
The a task force, put together by the Aowin District Assembly and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), is to deal with the alleged increase in cocoa smuggling to neighbouring countries because of higher prices the commodity can fetch in those countries.
District task force member, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Mr Ebenezer Anim Ofori said the team seized 60 bags of cocoa on the Adonikrom-Motoso road leading to Cote d’Ivoire.
Andrews Adjei, a cocoa purchasing clerk said to be an employee of the Produce Buying Company (PBC), was driving the truck carrying the cocoa beans when he was arrested.
Mr Ofori said the task force intercepted another 72 bags of cocoa at Boinso also bound for Cote d’Ivoire.
He said the driver and his assistant escaped arrest and abandoned the vehicle.
The District Chief Executive (DCE) of Aowin who led the operations, Mr Oscar Ofori Larbi, said the task force were determined to deal with cocoa smuggling to neighbouring Cote d’Ivoire.
He gave the assurance that the task force would collaborate with other districts that shared borders with Cote d’Ivoire to make smuggling unattractive to smugglers.
