Four containers of rotten mackerel intercepted

At least four 20-footer containers full of rotten mackerel, with the brand name ‘Asahi’ cleared at Tema Port on Saturday, September 30, have found their way onto the Ghanaian Market, TV3 can confirm.

The station’s attention was drawn to the situation around Tuesday, October 3, and the news team quickly dashed to an outlandish area at Ofankor near Tantra Hills in Accra where two articulated trucks containing the rotten mackerel have been stuck in the mud.

One of the containers had already been offloaded when TV3 got to the scene, suspected to have been sent to the market.

The products in the second truck were being offloaded onto another truck. The stench at the place was too strong to ignore even about half a kilometer away.

Some residents alarmed by the foul smell drew TV3’s attention to another truck also carrying two 20-footer containers packed a few meters away, full of mackerel.

Checks by TV3 indicate that the only nearby warehouse is used to store second-hand goods. The news team met some policemen at the location who impounded the vehicles.

The drivers were arrested and sent to the Mile 7 district police station to assist in the investigation.

Since the containers were recently cleared from the Tema on September 30, it raises questions as to how products in such state could be permitted to leave the port into private hands instead of being sent straight to the landfill site.

The owner of the rotten mackerel is yet to be identified. What is more intriguing is the fact that the products have 2018 expiring date even though the content had gone bad.