Cocoa Smuggling Biz Booms On Volta Lake … NIB, Customs Collaboration Leads To Arrest Of Offenders

The National Investigation Bureau (NIB) in Ho, Volta Region, in a daring operation has successfully intercepted a tipper truck concealing twenty (20) bags of cocoa beans bound for the Republic of Togo.

According to a highly placed source at the NIB Headquarters in Accra, who preferred anonymity, intelligence to the unit was to the effect that the cocoa beans were obtained from the Eastern Region, transported on the Volta Lake by outboard motor propelled canoes and discharged at Kpeve in the Volta Region.

Subsequently, the tipper truck went to load the cocoa and was heading towards Ho and subsequently to Honuta, where it would have crossed the border to enter the neighbouring francophone West African state, Togo.

The source went on that the operatives who were monitoring the movement of the smugglers swooped on them, seized the valuable produce and handed it over to the anti-Cocoa Smuggling Task Force responsible for monitoring the commodity.

The tipper truck, with registration number GN 3069-12 was, however, released to the Ho Sector Command, Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) for further action.

The revenue collection agency, following a standard procedure, imposed a penalty of        GH¢60,000.00 (Sixty thousand Ghana Cedis) on the truck’s owners, which amount the paper is reliably told, was paid on Tuesday May 27, 2025.

The NIB source continued that the successful operation leading to the seizure highlights the determination of the Ghanaian authorities to protect the country’s economy and uphold the integrity of its trade.

He went on that Ghana’s cocoa industry is a cornerstone of the economy, providing livelihoods for thousands of farmers and workers.

The Customs Division on their part praised the collaboration with the NIB and sister security agencies in combating the menace of smuggling and hoped the efforts would not be a nine-day wonder.

A source closed to the Ho Sector Command intimated to The Chronicle that its searchlight has been thrown to the eastern landing bays along the Volta Lake, from where the cocoa beans are transported by land into Togo.

The source named areas such as Atimpoku, Mpakadan, Juapong and Adidome enclave as the preferred route for the smugglers. They then use border towns like Ziope, Ave-Dakpa and others to enter Togo.

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