4 phone-snatching syndicate members arrested at Ashaiman

The Tema Regional Police Command on Wednesday arrested four members of a phone-snatching syndicate at Ashaiman.

They are John Hackman, alias Abeiku, 22, a driver and mechanic; Yaw Antwi, alias Ogeze, 19, a coconut seller; Prince Boadi, alias Vienna, 18, unemployed, and Jacob Asiamah, alias King Promise, 25, a phone repairer.

Briefing the Ghanaian Times, the Public Relations Officer for the Tema Regional Police Command, Chief Inspector Stella Dede Dzakpasu, said the suspects snatched an iPhone 12 Pro from a victim at Adenta.

She said the victim said he was seated on the backseat of a vehicle and chatting on his phone when it was snatched but he tracked it to Ashaiman Lebanon, where he met two of the suspects and informed the police, who arrested them.

Chief Inspector Dzakasu said preliminary investigation revealed that Asiamah unlocked most of the iPhones brought to him by his accomplices and sometimes bought and sold them.

“Some of the suspects had admitted their complicity in such criminal activities for some time now and explicitly explained that they usually targeted unsuspecting victims who fidget with their phones on the street while not paying proper attention to their immediate surroundings,” she said.

The Public Relations Officer cautioned people to be on their guard while using their phones in public and also called on all persons who had been victims of phone-snatching to come to the Tema Regional Police Command to assist in identifying their phones and the suspects.

She said the suspects would be arraigned after investigations.