Police have seized large quantities of assorted wax print fabrics suspected to be counterfeit GTP products at a warehouse in Adabraka, Accra, and arrested two suspects.
The consignment is estimated to be worth about GH¢20 million, according to a police statement reported by Graphic Online and Citi Newsroom on Thursday, November 12.
How the operation unfolded
The operation was carried out on Monday, November 9, by the Inspector-General of Police's Special Operations Team (SOT), the police said.
It followed intelligence that two articulated trucks, with registration numbers SMK-161-YH and T-28975-LA, were offloading suspected contraband at a warehouse off the Kojo Thompson Highway. Police said the trucks were suspected to have come from Nigeria and that the goods are believed to have been smuggled into Ghana.
Police named the two suspects as Salifu Mamuda, 50, and Iddrisa Mohammed, 44. They were arrested at the scene and are in police custody assisting investigations, Graphic and Citi reported. No charges have been announced.
The seized fabrics have been taken to the National Police Headquarters in Accra for further investigation. Police say efforts are under way to identify others involved in importing and distributing the products. MyJoyOnline reported that the Police Intelligence Unit has taken over the investigation.
What the manufacturer says
Schandorf Nii Obodai, Environmental Sustainability Manager at Tex Styles Ghana Limited, which produces GTP fabrics, also put the value at about GH¢20 million, MyJoyOnline reported.
"When you check all the materials here including the ones in the truck load, it's about GH₵ 20 million worth of cloth which is just going to enter the local market but for the vigilance of the team," he said, according to MyJoyOnline.
He told journalists that the company has no factories elsewhere on the continent. "GTP doesn't have any factory in Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa producing GTP or Vlisco cloths. GTP cloths are only produced in Ghana but they copy our designs and the stamps to reproduce the imitation products," he said.
Mr Obodai said smuggling of imitation wax prints costs the state tax revenue and hurts local manufacturers, and blamed it for the collapse of many local textile companies, MyJoyOnline reported.
Police said the operation is part of efforts to clamp down on the importation and distribution of suspected counterfeit products and other illegal goods.
The two suspects have not commented publicly. GhEcho will update this story as the investigation progresses.