The police in Upper East has exhibited true professionalism after they rejected a bribe of GHC5,000 from an illegal arms dealer.
The suspect, Surogu Mumuni, was arrested for carrying a firearm without authority.
According to the police, the 29-year-old Burkinabe suspect, was nabbed at the Doba-Kandina snap checkpoint on Thursday, March 25, 2021, upon a tip-off.
The suspect was aboard a Burkina Faso-Accra Mercedes-Benz articulated truck with registration number 11HJ2758BF and upon a search admitted ownership of the Bruni Mod. 92 pistol concealed in a bag.
A statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the command, ASP David Fianko-Okyere stated that, the suspect claimed the weapon was given to him by someone in Burkina Faso to be handed over to another person in Accra.
He added that, the suspect later made a call to an unknown person and a few minutes later a man arrived at the crime scene and proposed a bribe of GHS5,000 to the police to drop the case, but police rejected the offer and arrested the suspect.
“Subsequently, the suspect made a phone call to an unknown person and after a while, a man in rasta hair did arrive at the scene of the crime and proposed to offer an amount of GHS5000 for the case to be dropped. Police feigned interest and the money was indeed sent to a nearby mobile money vendor for police collection. After withdrawal, police arrested the suspect and brought him to the Regional Police headquarters with the exhibits of GHS5000 and the Bruni Mod. 92 pistol for investigations”.
ASP Fianko-Okyere, said, the suspect was in police custody while efforts are underway to arrest more suspects for further investigations.
He admonished drivers and operators of lorry terminals to be weary of such criminal practice and conduct a random search on persons and their luggage at their terminals before setting off.
ASP Fianko-Okyere assured the public of the police’s commitment through strategic operations and intelligence gathering to reduce the crime rate in the region.
