Cocoa smuggling on the increase in Volta Region

The Volta Regional Manager of the Produce Buying Company (PBC), Mr Augustine Boglo has expressed concern over the alarming rate at which cocoa is being smuggled out of the country.

According to the GNA he said in an interview on Thursday that cocoa purchases had gone down from 3,800 bags a week to 816 bags due to the activities of smugglers.

Smugglers were parading cocoa producing areas with sacks and weighing scales and were contacting farmers for their produce.

The regional manager alleged that the smugglers were paying between 450,000 cedis and 500,000 cedis for a bag of cocoa instead of the government approved price of 247,000 cedis.

Mr Boglo appealed to the law enforcement agencies in the region to help curb the activities of the smugglers. He said reports reaching him indicated that the smuggling of the produce went on at night in all the 78 cocoa buying centres in the region.