Lankans among 18 nabbed in Ghana for human trafficking

Security agencies of Ghana and Canada on Wednesday arrested 18 people, mostly Sri Lankans suspected of involvement in human trafficking at Thema Port.

The agencies have also detained a fishing vessel, MV Ruvuma believed to be used in trafficking people from West- Africa coast to Europe. Three of the suspects were arrested at the Paga Border while they were attempting to escape to Burkina Faso, while the rest were picked up from their hideouts in Tema. According to reports there were 240 Sri Lankans waiting in Togo and Benin to lure people to join the vessel if they had succeeded with their plans.

The 240 asylum seekers left Sri Lanka and travelled through India and Ethiopia before a smuggler abandoned them in Togo instead of taking them to Ghana and then Canada. A member of Thema Port Task Force, Patrick Oppong, said there was a syndicate operating along the West Coast luring people into accepting an offer to transport them to Europe.

Priu.gov.lk