Police bust cable stealing syndicate

Accra, Jan. 17, GNA - A combined team of officers of the Ghana Police Service, security personnel of Ghana Telecom and Electricity Company of Ghana have busted a cable stealing syndicate operating in the Sukura area of Accra West. Mr Teye Yohuno, Accra West Regional Manager of Ghana Telecom gave the estimated cost of the cables as in excess of 100,000 Ghana Cedis (1 billion Cedis).

The arrest of the syndicate members of seven was after several days of surveillance following a tip-off that some persons were undertaking some dubious activities in the neighbourhood. Briefing the media, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Alex Yartey Tawiah of the Dansoman District said the police had been on the look out for such miscreants in the society and would go to all lengths to flush them out. He named those arrested as Musah Adams, 38; Abib Mohammed 20; Karim Ibrahim 40 and Abdala Taal 45. The rest are Dauda Unar, Ali Deri and Sani Abdulai all aged 50 years each.

DSP Tawia said when the police pounced on the cable thieves in the early hours of Wednesday January 15, 2005, they arrested only the driver of the vehicle, but the other members of the syndicate bolted. "However, two other persons showed up later with GH 200 cedis (2 million cedis) to bribe the police and were arrested for complicity. As if that was not enough, four others came forward with Five Hundred Ghana Cedis (5 million Cedis) just in case the earlier amount of Two Hundred Ghana Cedis was not able to convince the police officers who were handling the case." "I asked my men to feign interest and this led to the arrest of the others on the basis that they could be part of the larger syndicate." DSP Tawiah said it was strange that they could muster courage and come over trying to influence the police. Mr Yohuno explained that it was such nefarious activities that hindered GT's avowed drive to provide an efficient and uninterrupted service to its clients. "This no doubt dents the image of GT and reduces its competitive edge in the telecommunications industry. But we must all as Ghanaians rise up and resist cable theft by reporting strange activities of persons at the GT chambers that house the cables." Between 2005 and 2006 GT, the nation's top telecommunications industry service provider lost close to 1,000,000 Ghana Cedis in damages and cost from cable theft and destruction of its copper wires across the country. In 2006 alone, GT lost 460,000 Ghana Cedis (4.6 billion old Cedis)