Six persons including a clearing agent were, on Saturday, arrested at Tema for allegedly importing arms and ammunition into the country from Turkey without proper documentation.
They were arrested by the Marine Police Unit in Tema after a 20-footer container with a declaration number 40920230853 was found to have arms and ammunitions.
They include 436 pistols and 26 packs of ammunition consisting of 50 pieces each in a pack were concealed in personal effects made up of clothing, shoes and bags, among other items.
Joseph Antwi-Ababio, Commander of the Marine Police Unit, confirmed the incident and noted that further investigations were being undertaken to identify the owners and ascertain the purpose for the importation of the firearms.
According to reports, the clearing agent who works with Crystal Shipping had attempted clearing the consignment at the Tema Port on Friday, October 9.
Following his arrest and interrogation, he however, led the police to arrest five others he said were owners of the various parcels that were found in the container.
The arms and ammunitions, according to reports, were detected during a physical examination exercise on the container at the Terminal 3 facility by officials of the Tema Command of Customs who then informed the Marine Police Unit and other security agencies at the port.
Meanwhile, Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Ammishadai Owusu-Amoah, said the guns and the ammunition were being kept at the armoury of GRA to allow for investigations.
He said that the six people in custody were identified as the owners of some of the parcels in the container.
The importers and agent for the items, the Commissioner-General, said, also failed to list the pistols and ammunition on the import declaration form that had the other items listed on it.
He said the investigations would ascertain whether the owners have been granted licences to import arms and ammunitions into the country.
He said, “For now, I can’t say whether the importers had the necessary licences permitting them to undertake the importation of the arms since our officers at the port did not find any documentation covering the gun imports.”
BY TIMES REPORTER
