Fake GTP cloth worth GH¢20 million seized in Adabraka as police pounce on two trucks
Two articulated trucks pulled into a warehouse yard in Adabraka on Monday and began unloading. Police were already waiting. By the time the unloading stopped, officers had arrested two men and taken control of what they describe as a GH¢20 million stockpile of wax print fabric they suspect is counterfeit GTP cloth smuggled in from Nigeria.
The operation, carried out on November 9 by the Inspector-General of Police’s Special Operations Team (SOT), grew out of a tip-off. Intelligence reaching the service pointed to a pair of trucks, believed to have crossed from Nigeria, delivering goods of doubtful legality to a warehouse off the Kojo Thompson Highway. Officers moved in as the cargo was being offloaded.
The vehicles, registered SMK-161-YH and T-28975-LA, were reportedly packed with assorted wax print designs. Police believe the cloth was brought into Ghana illegally and is designed to pass as genuine GTP merchandise, though authenticity has yet to be formally established.
Salifu Mamuda, 50, and Iddrisa Mohammed, 44, were detained at the scene. Both remain in custody and are helping detectives understand how the goods entered the country and where they were headed.
The entire consignment has been moved to the National Police Headquarters in Accra, where investigators will examine it further. Police say the raid is one piece of a wider drive against counterfeit products and other illicit goods entering the Ghanaian market, and that they are now working to track down others who may have played a part in bringing in and distributing the fabrics.
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