Car stealing syndicate busted

Tema (Greater Accra) 23 March ?99

Four persons alleged to have stolen two cars from Tema and sold them in the Northern and Ashanti regions are in the grip of the Tema police. They are Basiru Mumuni, Cudjoe Nasiru, Ibrahim Tanko and Thomas Oppong. A taxicab with registration number GT. 9163 N was retrieved from Oppong at Ofoase Kokoben in Ashanti while another one, Gt. 5169 C, was intercepted at Tamale.

Inspector Kwame Tawiah, Tema Police Regional Public Relations Officer, told the press that on January 26, this year, one Mr Michael Boakye reported his missing Toyota Carina taxi cab which he had parked on the street at Site 19, Community One, Tema. While the case was under investigations, Basiru Mumuni was arrested as an accomplice, by a member of the area watchdog committee of and handed him over to the police. Mumuni admitted that he and Nasiru stole the car, which they had sent to Kumasi for sale. Mumuni led the police to Kumasi where Tanko, who acted as a middleman in the sale of the car for four million cedis, was arrested. Oppong bought the car and paid three million cedis on condition that the rest of the money would be paid when he got the car's papers. He sent the car to Ofoase and changed the colour to white. Cudjoe Nasiru was implicated in the theft of another car, also a Toyota Carina car, belonging to one Mr Peter Ofori of Tema Newtown.

The Tamale police also intercepted the car, which was being driven by Nasiru on March 13, this year, with a new registration number UE 13.C. Nasiru again mentioned Mumuni as an accomplice who was later arrested at Site Two, Tema.