Police in the Savannah region have intercepted a cargo truck at Damongo suspected to be carrying rosewood.
The truck loaded the illegal Rosewood at the Chinese rosewood firm at Yipala in the West Gonja district of the Savannah region.
In an attempt to transport the logs out of the area illegally, owners of the truck covered it with bags of Charcoal.
Upon a tip-off by a whistleblower, the BNI in Damongo blocked the truck
at Soalepe and handed it over to the police. According to the driver
and two other men on board the truck, the owner of the container
reportedly resides in Sunyani, therefore would not give any information
unless he’s contacted.
The Chinese rosewood firm at Yipala was on May 10 this year closed down
by the Savanna regional minister Salifu Adam Braimah following the
arrest of a Chinese woman in Tamale, Helen Huang who was transporting
several containers of rosewood to Tema.
There is currently a ban on logging in the area. The BrivyWelss firm
has been operating in the area for many years and was mainly into
cutting, processing and smuggling rosewoods from the area in large
quantities.
Meanwhile, the truck has been packed at the Damogo District police headquarters pending investigations and further actions.
