Mr Victor-Herman Condubrey, Hohoe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), said his administration had declared war on cocoa smuggling across Hohoe's eastern frontier with Togo.
"These smugglers and their collaborators must be cut to size," he declared.
Mr Condubrey made the declaration when he led a team of Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) officials and the executives of the Hohoe-North branch of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to arrest a Tata Indigo Taxi with registration number GS 8494 Z with six bags of dried cocoa at Gbi-Kojokope on Sunday.
He told the Ghana News Agency that the taxi was abandoned in the bush with its two rear tyres punctured while the bags of cocoa were scattered.
Mr Condubrey warned vehicle owners and drivers engaged in cocoa smuggling to refrain from the act or face the full rigors of the law.
He also cautioned security personnel who tended to connive with such smugglers to refrain from aiding the plunder of the state or face dire consequences when arrested.
Mr Condubrey said the smuggling of cocoa in the area constituted ingratitude to government for helping cocoa farmers to increase their yield and incomes through the mass spraying, scholarship schemes and bonuses.
He said these smugglers and their collaborators must be punished for their nation sabotaging attitude.
