37 automobiles that are thought to have been stolen from the USA and Canada have been recovered by the Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO).

It was an intelligence-led operation that was conducted in conjunction with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

The automobiles were collected from different garages in Ghana on December 9, 2022, according to a press release from EOCO. Since then, the suspects have been interrogated and released on bail.

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“The Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) has, in collaboration with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), carried out an intelligence-led operation for the retrieval of various specifications of luxury vehicles suspected to have been stolen from the United States of America (USA) and Canada.

“On Friday, December 9, 2022, thirty-seven (37) of such vehicles were retrieved from some garages in Accra during which ten (10) persons were arrested. The suspects have since been questioned and granted inquiry bail,” the statement iterated.

The Economic and Organized Crime Office (EOCO) made its statement in response to claims made by several importers of old cars that the EOCO and National Security had illegally invaded their garages and seized their vehicles.

The importers asserted that EOCO had taken away more than 300 of their members’ vehicles and brought them to an unidentified location.

The government had been given a three-day deadline by the union to postpone the exercise or risk the union taking their automobiles by force, even if they were going up for auction.

Clifford Ansu, the Union’s general secretary, remarked as follows:

“Even if it has been alleged that the cars have been stolen, to us we know we are not selling such cars. The cars that we are selling were completely bought. We ship them from America and Canada.

We clear them here in Ghana, we have all the necessary documents to support whatever we are saying.

“We are only sending a signal to the government that what they are doing does not help us as business people.”