Luck eluded Kombert Lati, a 30-year-old suspected slave master from Garu in the Upper East Region when he and five accomplices, who were trafficking 18 suspected slaves to the Ivory Coast, were intercepted at Apemenim near Agona Nkwanta in the Ahanta West District of the Western Region. The accomplices were Najet Lambon, 32, a Togolese; George Laari, 20, a native of Garu; Azumah Laari, 30, a Togolese; Duti Jambetu, 24, a Togolese and Laari Lambo, whose nationality was yet to be established. Briefing DAILY GUIDE at the Kwesimintsim Police Station yesterday, ASP Magnus Sam, the District Commander said on Sunday 27th July 2008 at about 9:30 am, police on patrol duty at Apemenim stopped a Mercedes Benz bus with registration number AS104 V coming from the direction of Tarkwa. A search conducted on the vehicle revealed 14 young men and four young girls ranging between the ages of 7 and 31 on board the bus. According to ASP Sam, when he spoke Fante, Twi and English to the suspects on the vehicle, they signaled that they did not understand the languages, a situation which heightened the suspicion of the police officer who ordered all of them to alight. When the 28-year-old driver, Amos Baffour Awuah was interrogated, he replied that he was heading towards Elubo; this further strengthened the suspicion of the police officer since he realized that the bus had taken the wrong route. The driver added that Kombert Lati had paid for the fares of all the 18 suspected slaves at Kumasi and asked him (the driver) to take them to Elubo from where they would cross over to La Cote d’Ivoire. The driver told the police that he plies the Kumasi-Tarkwa road and that, that was his first time of trying to go to Elubo, a border town in the Jomoro District of the Western Region. Upon further questioning, the suspected slave master said due to the conflict at Bawku in the Upper East Region, he was taking some of those on board to work on his cocoa farm, adding that others were going to their parents in Cote d’Ivoire while others joined the vehicle voluntarily. ASP Sam said the explanation was not convincing enough and therefore he drove the suspected slave master and his accomplices as well as the suspected slaves to the Regional Police Headquarters in Sekondi for further investigations. He said after briefing the Regional Commander, the case was referred to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) for further investigations and action. However, investigations had initially proved difficult because of language barrier. Out of the 18 suspected slaves, the slave master and his five accomplices, only Laari George, whose identity card indicated that he was a past student of the Bawku Training Institute, could speak English. Source: Daily Guide