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The Western Regional Police Commander, DCOP Nathan Kofi Boakye is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that there is total security at the northern part of Western Region particularly, the cocoa growing areas which have been recording rampant robbery cases of late. Available statistics at the Regional Police Command indicated that there is an upsurge in robbery cases during the cocoa harvesting season from October to February every year in the cocoa growing areas of the region. The modus operandi of the robbers is that they normally block some main roads in the remote cocoa growing areas where there is no communication network and attack cocoa purchasing clerks and gold dealers who carry huge sums of money to and from the purchasing centres in the region. As part of efforts to curb the upsurge of robbery cases in the areas during this year�s cocoa season, the Regional Police Command, on September 16, 2013, dispatched 40 of its personnel led by the Regional Crime Officer, Chief Supt James Kofi Abraham for a week operation in the northern part of the region. Their mission was, among other things, to help curtail the activities of the miscreants who were making life unbearable for inhabitants in those areas and the travelling public. In the process, 21 alleged narcotic dealers and two alleged armed robbers were arrested. Briefing journalists at his office in Sekondi, DCOP Kofi Boakye disclosed that among the 40 police personnel assigned for the operation was ASP Anthony Dogbe, in charge of the Regional Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU). He indicated that the team conducted swoops at Adeiso, Wassa Japa, Saaman, Bogoso and other suspected drug ghettos in the Prestea District. �In the process, 21 suspects were found with narcotic drug exhibits and were arrested and brought to Sekondi. They were all arraigned before court and remanded into prison custody,� the Regional Police Commander added. Adeiso Junction DCOP Kofi Boakye mentioned that one of the 21 suspects, Stephen Tetteh, 24, was arrested with a locally manufactured pistol and two rounds of live cartridges on September 19, 2013 at Adeiso junction when a vehicle the suspect was travelling on from Ayanfuri towards Wassa Akropong was intercepted and thoroughly searched. �The suspect has been brought to Sekondi and remanded into police custody till October 22, 2013,� he added. He pointed out that some locally manufactured guns had some mechanism in them which made the weapon perform the same function as an AK-47 gun. �It means those guns are not for hunting but for killing,� he explained. 2 Robbers Arrested The Western Regional Police Commander noted that on September 26, 2013, the team of police personnel arrested two armed robbers who posed as gold dealers at Wassa Abesewa Gyaman. According to DCOP Kofi Boakye, the suspects visited a gold buying shop of one James Nti in the area under the pretext of buying gold. He said the suspects pulled out a short locally manufactured gun and attempted to rob the gold dealer. He said the victim shouted for help and some inhabitants went and assisted in arresting the two suspects. He gave the names of the suspects as Abdulai Gawu alias Haruna, 20, a mechanic and Musah Mohammed alias Rashidi, 22, unemployed. He indicated that a third suspect whose name was given as Fulani or Kweku and who resided at Abesewa in the area for about four months ostensibly to carry out his nefarious activities had managed to escape. �The two arrested suspects have been remanded into police custody till October 22, 2013,� he added. Police Barriers The Regional Commander noted that investigations he had conducted revealed that most of the robbers who attacked passengers on some of the highways in the western north were indigenes. To this end, he indicated that the police would create road barriers on some of the highways, particularly on the Axim-Elubo stretch of the road which is an international road. �We will not only check drivers� requisite documents or rickety vehicles, but also check armed robbery.� Advice The Regional Police Commander advised traders, particularly those in the northern part of the region, to always make sure that they transferred their money to nearby banks and other financial institutions in the area instead of keeping huge sums of money on them when travelling. He also called on cocoa purchasing clerks and gold dealers to seek the assistance of the police whenever they were transporting gold or huge sums of money to and from their purchasing centres. �Purchasing clerks or gold dealers who refuse to seek police assistance when travelling with money or gold and are attack by armed robbers, will be arrested as accomplices,� he stressed.