Driver in court for attempting to smuggle cocoa beans into Togo

A 33-year-old driver, Sefa Nyonyo, who allegedly concealed 105 sacks of dried cocoa beans beneath a heap of quarry stones in a tipper truck and attempted to smuggle them to Togo, has been arraigned before the Ho Circuit Court last Monday.

His plea to attempted smuggling was not taken.??? The court, presided over by Felix Datsomor, was told that the police on duty at the barrier on Friday, March 15 at Opokuase, a suburb of Peki in the Volta Region, intercepted the truck of the accused, which was travelling from the Accra direction at about 8:30, following a complaint from the Director Special Services of Ghana COCOBOD, Charles Amenyaglo.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Noah Amuzu, who represented the republic, said the police subsequently escorted the truck, with registration number GT 7893 -20 to the Peki Police Station, where they removed a portion of the quarry stones with a shovel and discovered the sacks of the cocoa beans.

The prosecution said the following day, the Volta Regional Command of the Police in Ho took custody of the exhibits and began investigations into the matter. The court heard during investigations that the accused denied knowledge of the cocoa sacks beneath the quarry stones, saying he was sent to deliver the stones to a man in Hohoe.

The prosecution said the cocoa beans were later released to the complainant for analysis, and the tipper truck was impounded. The court was further told that investigations were still ongoing into the matter.

Nyonyo was remanded into prison custody to appear before the court again on March 25.