Police arrest 41 in Accra crackdown on illegal forex trading
By DL News
Published
2 min read
Briefing journalists on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, CID Director-General COP Lydia Yaako Donkor said the swoop was carried out in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and focused on known forex hotspots.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) says it has arrested 41 people and seized large sums of cash in a coordinated operation against unlicensed foreign exchange dealers in Accra.
Briefing journalists on Tuesday, 9 December 2025, CID Director-General COP Lydia Yaako Donkor said the swoop was carried out in collaboration with the Bank of Ghana and focused on known forex hotspots including Tudu, Kwame Nkrumah Circle, the Airport area and Cantonments.
According to COP Donkor, the exercise began in the early hours of Tuesday with the arrest of 29 individuals allegedly engaged in illegal currency trading.
“In total, 29 suspects, including Togolese, Beninois, Nigerians and Ghanaians, were arrested,” she noted.
A second phase conducted about an hour later led to a further 12 arrests, bringing the total number of suspects picked up on the day to 41.
Police say the operation yielded substantial amounts of money in different currencies. The seizures included:
GH¢1,266,770
100,000 CFA francs
₦3,383,570 (including ₦1,266,770 held as e-cash on a Moneypoint device)
US$5,105
“All cash exhibits have been secured and will be forwarded to the Bank of Ghana for safekeeping as investigations continue, after which the suspects will be charged and put before the court,” COP Donkor said.
The CID Director-General explained that Tuesday’s swoop builds on earlier enforcement actions targeting unauthorised forex trading.
She recalled that an operation on 20 November 2025 at Osu Oxford Street and the Kwame Nkrumah Circle enclave resulted in 28 arrests, with those suspects later granted police enquiry bail by the Accra Circuit Court.
Since the start of the current nationwide exercise in August 2025, she said, a total of 90 suspects have been arrested, of whom 13 have so far been charged and brought before the Accra Circuit Court.
Describing the clampdown as part of a broader effort to “sanitise Ghana’s forex space”, COP Donkor emphasised that enforcement will not only continue but be further intensified.
Speaking on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, Christian Tetteh Yohuno, she thanked the Bank of Ghana for its support and issued a warning to those still operating without a licence.
“We also urge all individuals involved in this illegal trade to desist, as offenders will be arrested and prosecuted. We further advise the general public to deal with the banks for all their forex transactions,” she cautioned.
She added that operations will extend beyond Accra, with unauthorised dealers across the regions facing arrest if they fail to obtain the required Bank of Ghana licence. The police, she said, expect continued close cooperation with the central bank as they move to enforce compliance nationwide.
