Kumasi gun runners caged

The 72-Year-Old Burkinabe illicit firearms dealer, Moro Sata and six of his associates, who were recently arrested for allegedly importing deadly guns into the country, have been remanded into custody for two weeks.

Moro Sata and his purported accomplices – Frank Badu, 23; Samuel Baafi, 24; Suleman Alhassan, 24; Ibrahim Hamidu, 38; Mohammed Zibilla, 25 and Mwinbom Alphonse, 24, face one count of possessing arms and ammunitions without lawful authority.

The Asokore-Mampong District Magistrate Court remanded the accused persons into custody pending further investigation by the police.

The police high command in the Ashanti Region seized a large cache of firearms believed to be in transit in a single swoop at Akwatialine, a suburb of Kumasi, the regional capital, last Friday evening.

Officers of the Manhyia Divisional Police Command retrieved the arms after an “intelligence-led” operation in the house of suspect Moro Sata.

The self-confessed illicit arm dealer and his associates were arrested during the raid by the police.

The Burkinabe told the law enforcers that he imported the weapons, including anti-aircraft ammunition – which police claim are deadly and are of NATO standards – from some West African countries, particularly, Cote d’Ivoire.

He confessed that he usually sold the guns and ammunition to interested buyers, some of them outside the country. Police suspect he also rented the weapons out to criminals for robbery operations for a fee.

Sata told the police during interrogation that he and his business partners were using Ghana as a transit point for arms deat.