Accra, July 30, GNA- The Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) has rescued eighty- five (85) victims of human trafficking and seventeen (17) foreign nationals during an intelligence-led operation that dismantled a suspected cyber fraud syndicate operating in Dawhenya.
The operation, conducted by the GIS National Enforcement Team, targeted a facility located opposite the China West Mall, premises reportedly owned by one Oga Toyas, Chief Executive Officer of TOYAS Group Limited.
A statement by Maud Anima Quainoo, Deputy Commissioner of Immigration and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the operation was initiated following a tip-off from some individuals in the area, who reported the syndicate’s alleged criminal activities.
Acting swiftly on the intelligence, officers of the National Enforcement Team, led by Assistant Superintendent of Immigration (ASI) Atubga Elijah secured the premises and intercepted a total of One Hundred and Two (102) West African nationals.
Preliminary investigations revealed that 85 of the individuals comprising Seventy-Nine (79) males and six (6) females were victims of human trafficking and forced labour.
The remaining 17 individuals are suspected members of the cyber fraud syndicate and were also found to be residing in Ghana illegally.
Officers have reportedly found evidence of serious physical abuse, particularly on male victims and further reported that the victims were being forcefully manhandled and lived in appalling conditions.
Twenty-three (23) individuals, comprising the six female victims and the 17 principal suspects, are currently being held at the GIS Headquarters in Accra for further interrogation, profiling, and investigations.
The remaining 79 male victims have been transferred to a secure GIS holding facility while the Service, in collaboration with the appropriate state agencies, coordinates their safe repatriation to their respective home countries.
It is reported that the team met the absence of the main kingpins at the time of the operations. Investigations are ongoing to pick up the brain behind these nefarious activities.
The operation is in line with the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694), which criminalizes the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, trading, or receipt of persons, within or across national borders, through force, fraud, deception, coercion, or abuse of power for the purpose of exploitation.
Offences under the Act attract a mandatory minimum custodial sentence of five years upon conviction.
In a related development, the Ashaiman Sector Command of the Ghana Immigration Service, acting on requests from the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly and the Municipal Security Council (MUSEC), conducted an intelligence-led immigration compliance operation in the Tsina–Agbe area to address the involvement of foreign nationals in prostitution.
The operation resulted in the detention of Ninety- Three
(93) Nigerian women, aged between 15 – 44 years, who are suspected to have been brought into Ghana for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex.
The women have since been transferred to a secure GIS holding facility while arrangements are being made for their repatriation to Nigeria in accordance with the law.
“The Ghana Immigration Service remains steadfast in its statutory mandate to safeguard Ghana’s borders, combat irregular migration, dismantle transnational criminal networks, and protect victims of human trafficking from exploitation.
“The Service will continue to work closely with relevant national and international partners to uphold the rule of law and ensure the safety and security of all persons within the country.
GNA
Edited by George-Ramsey Benamba