Burkina Faso: Police catch a network of illicit activities.

A group engaged in illegal activities, including consumer deception, fraud, counterfeiting and smuggling of goods, and money laundering in the city of Ouagadougou and surrounding areas.

To achieve its ends, the network, thanks to its leader, bought rice from suppliers in Ouagadougou or abroad, already packed in 50kg bags. The rice was stored in shops in the rural commune of Saaba.

Empty 25kg bags of various brands were then paid to transfer and repackage the rice into these bags, in defiance of the regulations in force. For this purpose, he used scales for weighing, machines for sewing the repacked bags and labour for repacking and loading.

Once the reconditioning work was completed, the group’s customers, made up of retail and wholesale sellers, and individuals or legal entities working in the humanitarian sector, were informed by the group leader of the availability of rice for sale in his shops.

Thanks to the cooperation of the population, the Nongr-Mâasom Police Station managed to dismantle the network. The investigations also led to the sealing of a shop containing more than one hundred (100) tonnes of rice.

This result is the fruit of the collaboration between the population and the National Police, who also invite the said population to remain vigilant and to always report suspicious cases to the Defence and Security Forces via the freephone numbers 17, 16 and 1010.

Miss OLY