Kasoa police swoops on Internet fraudsters, drug dealers

One hundred and one suspected Internet fraudsters and drug dealers believed to be the masterminds of major criminal operations at Kasoa and its surrounding communities in the Central Region have been arrested.

The suspects, including foreign nationals, were apprehended on Wednesday by the Kasoa Divisional Police in separate swoops in four communities in the Kasoa area: Obom, Akweley, Adade and Gomoa Nyanyano.

During a search at the hideouts of the suspects, the police retrieved one pump action gun with live cartridges, 126 laptops, 40 mobile phones, nine passports, Internet modems, unspecified amount of money and 11 wrappers of Indian hemp.

Kasoa terror

Briefing the Daily Graphic, the Kasoa Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Mr David Agyemang Adjem, said the police had been pursuing the suspected criminals for some months now.

He said Kasoa had been turned into an Internet fraud centre, where many young people from different parts of the country converged to undertake their criminal operations.

“These persons have furnished large rooms in all these areas, where they have tables and computers lined up as you would find in the Internet cafe, and that is how they operate and scam people,” Mr Adjem said.

He said the swoop was conducted to clear criminals from Kasoa and its surrounding communities, adding that “these young people are also involved in different criminal activities.”

Mr Adjem stated that the police would screen the suspects to determine the number of foreign nationals among them, after which their respective embassies would be notified and the appropriate action taken.

In a related development, Mr Adjem said 20 other people suspected to have attacked some police personnel and vandalised a police vehicle at Awutu-Beraku in the Awutu Senya District in the Central Region had also been arrested.

He said 20 motor bikes were retrieved from them.