An immigration officer stationed in Bolgatanga has been arrested by the police in connection with the interception of 2,600 rounds of AK-47 ammunition that were being transported to northern Ghana.
The ammunition was intercepted last week at the Asankare police barrier in the Ashanti Region during a routine check on December 26, 2025.
Two suspects, the bus driver and his assistant were arrested at the scene.
The suspects, identified as Kwame Afram, the driver, and Godfred Essel, his mate, were travelling in a Kia Granbird bus with registration number GT 5771-18 from Accra to Walewale, with Paga as the final destination.
A search conducted on the bus uncovered two concealed containers holding the ammunition. Police also retrieved two bulletproof plates, a black ballistic helmet, and a pair of long black boots hidden under the driver’s seat.
Both Afram and Essel were detained for unlawful possession of ammunition and are currently in police custody assisting with investigations. The bus and all retrieved items have since been impounded.
Subsequent police investigations linked some of the seized items to an immigration officer, whose name has been withheld.
The officer is stationed at the Bolgatanga Regional Provost of the Ghana Immigration Service.
According to a police report, the Upper East Regional Police Commander, DCOP John Dzineku Ferguson, acting on intelligence that the officer was connected to the transportation of body armour, a helmet, and boots found on the bus, requested his release from the Ghana Immigration Service to assist with investigations.
On January 2, 2026, at about 12:20 p.m., the officer was officially handed over to the police.
During interrogation, the suspect told police that prior to his transfer to the Upper East Region, he served as a dispatch rider at the Tema Regional Immigration Office.
He explained that after his transfer to Paga in June 2025, he left behind his body armour plate and an old pair of long black boots.
He further stated that on December 26, 2025, he contacted an immigration officer at the Service’s headquarters in Accra, identified as Isaac, and requested that the items be sent to him in Paga.
Preliminary police information indicates that Isaac packed the body armour plate, long black boots, ballistic helmet, electric diffuser, and a disco bulb, and handed them over to a bus driver for onward delivery.
The suspect said that on December 27, 2025, he contacted another individual in Walewale to take delivery of the parcel but later learned that the person had been arrested by the police.
Police say the immigration officer has been detained to assist with ongoing investigations into the source and intended destination of the ammunition.
