Ivorian gun runner remanded
The 72-year-old Ivorian gun runner who was arrested in a swoop at Alabar in Kumasi with a large cache of arms and ammunition has been remanded in prison custody by the Asokore Mampong Magistrate’s Court.
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Moro Shafter, together with other suspects who were arrested in last Saturday’s swoop, were arraigned last Wednesday charged with illegal possession of arms.
The others are Frank Badu, 23; Samuel Baafi, 24; Sulemana Alhassan, 24; Ibrahim Hamidu, 38, Mohammed Zibilla, 25, and Mwinbom Alphonse, 24.
Their pleas were not taken and the court, presided over by Mr Samuel Dzanie Kotey, remanded them in prison custody to reappear on December 30, 2015.
The prosecution pleaded with the court to remand the suspects to allow the police time to conclude their investigations.
Arrest
The police last Saturday arrested the suspects in a swoop at Alabar, Akwatialine and Bosore, all suburbs of Kumasi, following a tip-off.
The police retrieved what could be described as the largest arm haul in history in the country during the swoop.
Arms retrieved
During the swoop, the police retrieved 11 AK47 assault rifles; 10 G3s, 45 automatic sidearms, 9mm AK47 tracer ammunition, one machine gun and two trunks full of ammunition from Moro’s bedroom at Alabar.
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Related development
In a related development, the police last Tuesday retrieved two AK47 assault rifles and 179 assorted ammunition from a bush at Trede, near Kumasi.
The arms were allegedly hidden in the bush by some suspected armed robbers.
Briefing the press on the fresh arms haul, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCOP) Mr Nathan Kofi Boakye, said the police had intelligence that the armed robbers had hidden the arms there and were planning to go on an operation later in the evening.
He said armed with the information, a team was dispatched to the area where they laid ambush in wait for the suspected armed robbers.
However, he said after waiting for a while, the police observed that fire had gutted the bush and some of the ammunition was exploding.
According to Mr Boakye, the police managed to retrieve the rest of the ammunition and the rifles from the fire.