In Accra, the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) has detained ten (10) garage owners following an intelligence-driven investigation that turned up 37 luxury vehicles that were allegedly stolen from the United States and Canada.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Royal Canadian Mounted Mice collaborated on the operation, according to a statement from EOCO published on its official Facebook page on Tuesday, December 13, 2022. (RCMP).
“On Friday, December 9 2022, thirty-seven (37) of such vehicles were retrieved from some garages in Accra during which ten (10) persons were arrested. The suspects have since been questioned and granted enquiry bail,” the statement signed by Head of Public Affairs, Faustina Lartey said in part.
Due diligence should be done before buying a car, EOCO advises potential purchasers. When new information about the ongoing inquiry becomes available, the government has vowed to keep the public informed.
In the meantime, members of the Ghanaian organization known as the Vehicle and Assets Dealers Union (VADUG) have accused EOCO, the police, and the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) of breaking into their garages, taking their vehicles arbitrarily, and attacking some of their members. In a coordinated police, GRA, and EOCO operation to crack down on auto garage owners who have been dodging taxes, reports state that roughly 300 vehicles were confiscated and towed.
“We can confirm that these vehicles were imported mainly from Canada and the United States of America.
If anything at all, they should exercise a bit of caution in the implementation of this policy or directive. This will restore the confidence and hope of the general public in law enforcement.
“We would like to place on record that VADUG members are law-abiding citizens who are going about their legitimate businesses. The vehicles that were seized have valid documents. All taxes and duties had already been paid to the Ghana Revenue Authority. “We don’t want a situation where some people will take advantage to do all kinds of things. Christmas is less than 2 weeks away. The timing of this exercise is therefore absolutely wrong,” VADUG said in a statement.
