Stolen Mobile Phone Business Booming

Mobile phones stolen in Europe and other parts of the world are turning up in Ghana in what is proving to be a massively lucrative criminal business. People are continuously being threatened at gunpoint for their phones, hit, and even stabbed with knives. Many of the stolen phones end up in Accra’s Tip Toe Lane, and Circle, known for its second-hand markets and traders of goods of questionable origin. Some months ago it was terrible and everyone was scared. Some people did not even take their phones to the office; they simply left them at home. Alhassan Tari, one of the traders, told City & Business that he receives supplies from Finland, and brand new phones from Dubai. On a good day he will sell four phones, and on a bad day none. He said however that he does not accept phones to sell unless they are accompanied by a matching charger. But another trader, Osei Kwaku said he simply sells phones he is given by his brother, who says they come from Italy. "I don’t know whether they are stolen. I heard people saying mobile phone is a lucrative business,” he admitted. The surge in mobile phone ownership in the country in recent years, some of which has been driven by the availability of stolen European phones, has led to a wave of crime focused solely on snatching the phones from their owners. Gangs of young boys, usually aged between 14 and 16, ride around the city on small motorcycles, targeting people who have handsets in plain sight. They are often able to snatch them swiftly, and at force, before driving off. If the handset is not clearly visible, they would simply target people's bags in which phones are usually kept. Philip Osei, one of Ghana's mobile phone retailers, told City & Business Guide that many Ghanaians are not at all careful about concealing their phones. "They always want to show off the mobile phone they have got," he said. "Most Ghanaians like screaming on the top of their voices that they are on cell phones." This relatively new crime has been on the police priority list in the country. In 2004, there were 209 reported cases. In 2005, the case increased to 417. The anti-armed robbery unit of the Ghana Police Service has taken it very seriously, and has arrested a lot of violent gang members for phone-snatching. Also there has been a massive push by the police to educate people of the dangers of using their phone in the street. People are now more alert, and even the people who commit such crimes are more alert, because the police are around. The move by mobile phone companies in the country to install software with the aim of blocking stolen phones would further help to discourage people from stealing phones.