Court remands cocoa stealing syndicate member

A member of a cocoa stealing syndicate operating in the Akyem Oda area, Mohammed Sani, has been remanded in custody for two weeks by the Akyem Swedru Circuit Court presided over by Mr Alexander Oworae.

Sani, a professional driver from Kasoa, was charged with three counts of conspiracy, unlawful entry and stealing 16 bags of dried cocoa beans valued at GH¢7,600 belonging to Nyonkopa Cocoa Company Limited.

Thirty-seven-year-old Sani, who pleaded not guilty to the charges, was remanded in custody by the presiding judge until December 22, 2017 to enable the police to conduct further investigations and look for six accomplices who are on the run.

The facts of the case as presented by the prosecutor, Detective Chief inspector Fabian Sallah, were that one Christian, the owner of a KIA Frontier truck with registration number AS 5086-R, engaged Sani to drive him to Akyem Manso on November 29, 2017.

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About 1a.m. on December 3, 2017, Christian, in the company of Sani and five others, went to Akyem Abenase, near Oda, broke into the Nyonkopa Cocoa shed and made off with 16 bags of dried cocoa beans worth GH¢7,600.

When the purchasing clerk in charge of the cocoa shed, Mr William Asare, was informed of the theft, he lodged a complaint with the Oda police who traced the vehicle to Akyem Manso.

As soon as the six people on the vehicle saw the police, they jumped from it and absconded, but Sani was arrested.

Sani, he said, voluntarily led the police to a place in the bush where the 16 bags of cocoa beans had been hidden.

The police subsequently sent Sani and the vehicle to the Oda District Police Headquarters. During interrogation, Sani mentioned the names of the six who were with him, including Christian, who are all on the run.