Police uncover vehicle-stealing syndicate
The police have uncovered a vehicle-stealing syndicate which operates in parts of Accra where stolen cars are dismantled and sold as scrap.
Advertisement
The practice, the police said, had become rampant especially in Kasoa, Odorkor and its environs, where a number of people have lodged reports of stolen vehicles with the police stations in such areas.
The vehicles stolen include trucks, saloon cars and commercial buses.
Some victims and the police have attributed the new car - stealing incidence to the rocketing prices of spare parts and the lack of regulation in the scrap industry.
Arrest
Following spikes in the number of stolen vehicles which were not being recovered, the police mounted an operation leading to the arrest of two persons believed to be behind the syndicate and one person suspected to be a scrap dealer who buys the dismantled vehicles.
The suspects have been identified as Adamu Mustapha, 22, a carpenter, Michael Kofi Owiredu, 23, a driver, and Yaw Osei Agyemang, 32, a trader.
Two other members of the gang who were identified only as Eric and Kofi Ibrahim are currently on the run.
A police source told the Daily Graphic that between May 18 and 22, 2016, the police received complaints from four victims whose cars had been stolen from their residence at Amanfrom.
Other Trending Stories
Types of vehicles
The vehicles, the source said, included a Kia Frontia Bongo with registration number GX 2564-12, Kia mini-pickup truck with registration number GW 292-11, Kia mini-pickup with registration number GW 8697-12 and a Kia Bongo with registration number GX 9159-13.
All the victims claimed they had parked the vehicles in front of their houses but woke up to find out they had been stolen.
During interrogation, the source said the police found that three of the vehicles had been dismantled and sold for GH¢ 4,000 and one other sold intact at the same price.
The engines of the three cars were sold separately. The police have since retrieved the dismantled vehicles and the engines.
Following the arrest of the suspects, the vehicle which was sold intact, a mini Kia pickup truck, was abandoned at the Sakaman fuel filling station and was later retrieved by the police.