The Accra Regional Police Command has impounded at least 446 unregistered motorbikes and 56 unregistered vehicles in a massive operation, following the murder of a police officer at Lapaz in Accra.

Police say a number of crimes have been committed using unregistered motorbikes and cars.

The use of unregistered vehicles to commit crimes have been a lingering problem for decades, however, following last Thursday’s attack on two police officers by armed men riding an unregistered motorbike, police have intensified their clampdown.

According to the Public Relations Officer, ASP Afia Tenge, some of the owners of the unregistered motorbikes and cars have since been arraigned before court.

The swoop conducted on Tuesday, July 19, 2017, also resulted in the arrest of two women found with 297 wraps of substances suspected to be Indian hemp.

The Inspector General of Police (IGP) David Asante-Apeatu ordered the arrest and prosecution of persons who “do not have proper registration” in a wireless message sent to all police commands in Ghana. “These instructions are to be carried out with full vigour and must be robust,” the wireless message added.

There is an upsurge in “a large number of motor bikes” plying roads nationwide “without registration number plates,” the IGP noted.

Police personnel remain at vantage points on major streets of Accra since the directive was issued.