Twelve (12) Chinese nationals, an Indian and a Ghanaian, have been arrested by operatives of National Security in connection with the missing ECG containers at the Tema Port.
The suspects, who are linked to two aluminium smelting companies located in Shai Hills, were apprehended on Thursday during an intelligence-led operation.
Cables, believed to be part of the missing consignment, were traced to an aluminium smelter owned by the Chinese, situated opposite the Shai Hills Game Reserve.
These cables were reportedly being melted into aluminium bars for export.
Operatives of National Security are also on a manhunt for another Chinese national who is currently on the run.
Minister for Energy and Green Transition, John Jinapor, has disclosed that 40 of the over 1300 missing ECG containers have been retrieved after they were traced to an Indian man.
An investigative report on the ECG revealed that more than 1,300 containers intended for clearance at the Tema Port were unaccounted for.
According to Prof. Innocent Senyo Acquah, chairman of the investigative committee, ECG initially claimed to have 2,491 uncleared containers filled with cables and other essential equipment. However, an independent audit at the port found only 1,134 containers, leaving 1,347 missing.
The minister, in an interview on TV3’s News Central yesterday, Thursday, March 27, 2025, said a foreign national, an Indian man, has been arrested after national security operatives picked intelligence that he was in possession of 40 of the missing containers, which he had kept at a warehouse in Kpone.
John Jinapor revealed that upon interrogation, the Indian claimed that the 40 containers were sold to him last year.
He noted that law enforcement agencies are still investigating the case and assured that all the missing containers would be retrieved and that the persons responsible would face the law.
“The briefing I got this morning and let me commend the National Security Operatives and the law enforcement agencies, the information I got is that already they’ve traced about 40 of them to a particular terminal warehouse in Kpone which belonged to an Indian man and they have confiscated all the 40 containers and moved them to a secured location.
“The man indicates that those containers were sold to him last year and so that’s a matter of investigation that law enforcement agencies would ensure that the law takes its course.
“There are also reports of some other areas that they are picking intelligence, they will trace and retrieve all of them and fish out the perpetrators before the court of competent jurisdiction,” he stated.
John Jinapor cautioned, “Let me just say that when we start prosecuting these people, let no one say that this is witch-hunting. These are properties of the state, and we will use every legitimate means to ensure that we retrieve them.”
The findings of the investigation were presented to the Minister of Energy and Green Transition, John Abdulai Jinapor, on March 26, who described the situation as alarming.
He assured that a full-scale investigation involving the Attorney-General and the Police would be conducted to track down the missing containers or recover their monetary value.