A 37-year-old man, Kwame Tawiah, has been arrested at Half Assini New Town Border Post in the Jomoro Municipality, Western Region, for allegedly trafficking 16 children between the ages of seven and 20 to Ivory Coast for fishing expeditions.
Speaking to Angel News, the officer in charge of the Half Assini Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, ACI Kenneth Arhinful, explained that their enforcement officers received intelligence from two customs officers that the suspect was leading a group including underaged children to cross the border using an unapproved route.
Thus they quickly intercepted them and marched them to New Town Border Post for official identification and interrogation.
After the random interrogation, they uncovered that 11 out of the 16 victims were girls whiles 5 were boys.
They also discovered that all the victims hailed from the Central region’s coastal towns: Biriwa, Apam, Dogo, etc.
The interrogation also revealed the suspect had consent from the parents of some of the victims and have coached them to lie about their ages.
ACI Kenneth Arhinful said due to the severity of the crime, the suspect has been handed over to the Half Assini Police Station for further investigation whilst the victims have been sent to the Social Welfare Department of the area for further inquiries.
Meanwhile, the parents of the victims are being hunted to ensure they face the law accordingly.
