Rotten mackerel impounded at Ofankor

The Mile 7 District Police have impounded four 20-footer containers suspected to contain tins of rotten mackerel imported into the country to be sold to unsuspecting members of the public.

The suspected rotten mackerel, with the brand name ‘Asahi,’ was allegedly imported by one Kofi Dokyi, owner of Dokyispo Ventures that deals in general merchandise.

The items were said to have been cleared on September 30 at the Tema Port to be sold on the Ghanaian market.

Residents of the area, who could not withstand the pungent stench, had to report the matter to the police.

A resident told DAILY GUIDE that the warehouse owned by Mr Dokyi and where the rotten mackerels were to be kept was used for storing only used cloths at Ofankor.

He said their attention was drawn to the situation on Tuesday, October 2, when the offensive stench started reverberating through the air in the area.

“When I went there to find out the source of the scent – since we know the owner of the warehouse deals in only used clothing – I saw some boys discharging the said goods into the warehouse and asked what they were,” the resident averred.

He said they later realized that it was mackerel imported for sale.

The country from which the product was imported was not immediately known.

He said when he checked the expiry date on the product, he realized that it would expire in 2018 but was already rotten “and so we reported the matter to the police.”

Another resident, Sylvester Aidoo, told DAILY GUIDE that if they did not report the matter to the police as concerned citizens, they feared the rotten mackerel would be rebranded and sold to unsuspecting individuals.

When the paper got to the scene, one of the containers had already been discharged into the warehouse, but the three other containers were intact.

In an interview with drivers of the vehicles, they claimed they did not know the owner.

The Mile 7 police patrol team later visited the scene to escort the vehicles to the station.

When contacted, ASP Efia Tenge, Accra Regional Public Relations Officer, said residents visited the station to give a report on the said rotten mackerel.

The owner of the product, she said, was later invited to the station to give his statement.

Meanwhile, she said efforts were being made by the police to get officials of the Food and Drug Authority (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to advise the police on what to do.

The owner has since been granted police enquiry bail while investigation continues.

The vehicles containing the goods have also been impounded.