Customs officials at Tumu in the Sissala East District of the Upper West Region have impounded 589 bags of fertiliser which were allegedly being smugg1ed from Sunyani in the Brong Ahafo Region to the Leo Market in Burkina Faso. The bags of fertiliser, which were concealed under a truckload of oranges, plastic wares and wooden laddles, were detected when the vehicle which was carrying the consignment pulled up at the Tumu CEPS Border Post last Friday evening. The Upper West Regional Sector Commander of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority; Mt Terry Augustus Morkeh, told the Daily Graphic that about 5:35 p.m. last Friday, the truck - which was being driven by one Augustine Manu - was travelling to Sunyani in the Brong Apafo Region to the Leo market in Burkina Faso. He said CEPS officers at the border, after thorough examination of the truck, enquired about the contents of the truck's cargo and the driver insisted it contained oranges, plastic wares and wooden laddles which they were sending to the Leo market. According to him, the CEPS officers were not convinced by the explanation giving by the driver and so they interrogated him further and finally confirmed that there was fertiliser concealed under the goods. The Sector CEPS Commander said the truck was subsequently impounded, pending the arrival of the owner. Mr Morkeh said one Mr Kwame Acheampong reported at the CEPS checkpoint in Tumu the next day, September 3, 2011and claimed ownership of the goods. 'He said the goods were then examined in the presence of the owner after which his statement and that of the driver were taken. Mr Morkeh said Acheampoog pleaded in his statement that he was not aware that fertiliser was not supposed to be exported. In a related development, a very reliable source at CEPS revealed that the reported seizure of 700 bags of fertilizer, which were being smuggled on a truck with registration number AS 6032 X on August 29, 2011 also at Tumu, was politically motivated. The source said the arrest and its subsequent publication in some sections of the media was meant to stifle the business of the owner of the said fertilizer, Mr AIhassan Kanton, a known NPP activist, based on a business rivalry with other young business people in the area. The source noted that the said vehicle was arrested within Ghana's territory and that from the spot to the Burkina Faso Border was 18 kilometres. It, therefore, questioned how the truck could be arrested when it was still within Ghana and that there were a lot of farming communities along the route. This, the source said, defeated the earlier claim by the Sissala East District Chief Executive (DCE), Madam A1ijata Sulemana.