The Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service has announced breakthroughs across five separate operations, including the dismantling of child exploitation networks, the arrest of a murder suspect in Togo and the exposure of an online drug-rape syndicate in Accra.
Director-General of the CID, Commissioner of Police (COP) Lydia Yaako Donkor, disclosed the developments at a press briefing at Police Headquarters in Accra on Wednesday, May 13, 2026.
Child Sexual Exploitation Ring Dismantled
Working with the Australian Federal Police and INTERPOL, the CID arrested three Ghanaian nationals for producing, publishing and distributing child sexual abuse material under Section 62(1)(a) to (d) of the Cyber Security Act, 2020 (Act 1038).
The operation began in January 2026 after INTERPOL Accra received intelligence linking an Australian offender, currently standing trial, to Ghanaian facilitators who supplied the material for payment. Officers arrested two suspects in the Ashanti Region and a third in the Bono Region, rescuing four victims aged between six and 13. The offenders were found to be close relatives of the victims.
“This type of crime is increasing because it is relatively easy to commit,” COP Donkor warned, announcing plans to establish cybercrime and child protection units across all regions. The rescued children are now in the care of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), supported by the Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Abuse Relief Corps.
Murder Suspect Arrested in Togo
The CID arrested Wisdom Tetteh on April 30, 2026, in Togo in connection with the murder of 27-year-old car dealer Theophilus Ashitey Amarh, whose burnt body was found inside a vehicle at Adamafio Link, off the Legon Bypass Road, on April 7, 2026.
Tetteh, a close friend and neighbour of the deceased, allegedly lured Amarh to his home on April 6 under the pretence of a vehicle sale, attacked him and inflicted fatal head injuries. He subsequently sold the victim’s Hyundai Elantra for GH¢170,000.00, before setting the body and vehicle ablaze. INTERPOL assisted in locating him in Togo while he allegedly attempted to sell the victim’s phone. He was handed over at the Aflao Border and arraigned on May 5, 2026.
East Legon Entrepreneur Charged with Drug-Rape
In a joint operation with the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), the CID arrested Joshua Kojo Anane Boate, 36, of East Legon, Accra, on May 6, 2026.
Boate allegedly operated a Telegram platform through which he drugged female victims with Alprazolam (Xanax), sexually assaulted them, recorded the acts and distributed the footage without consent. Exhibits seized at arrest included multiple phones, a laptop, an external hard drive, a memory card and empty drug sachets. Electronic devices are undergoing forensic analysis, and the drug samples have been forwarded to the Food and Drugs Authority for verification.
Child Trafficking Syndicate Broken Up
A midwife, Lucinda Naomi Otchere, who oversees the maternity ward at Trust Mother and Child Hospital in Osu, has been arrested in connection with a child trafficking ring, joining six previously arraigned suspects.
The investigation opened on April 10, 2026, after the disappearance of a seven-year-old child in Kasoa. Otchere allegedly paid GH¢20,000.00 for one child and arranged for a second to be transferred to a couple in Pokuase. Two children have been rescued, but a five-year-old girl believed to be held near Agya Herbal in Pokuase remains missing. The CID is appealing to whoever holds the child to surrender her to the nearest police station immediately.
Fetish Priest Charged in Ritual Murder
A 25-year-old fetish priest faces charges in connection with the ritual murder of Joyce Akua Ampomaa, a 40-year-old trader from Kasoa, whose headless and mutilated body was found at Awutu Bentum in the Central Region on March 10, 2026.
The suspect, who had previously treated the victim, allegedly lured her into a bush on March 4, 2026 and attacked her. Severed body parts were subsequently recovered on March 17 and 18 following a court-granted exhumation order and are deposited at the Police Hospital Mortuary.
COP Donkor commended all officers and international partners involved and urged members of the public with relevant information to call Police emergency lines 191 or 112.
