{"id":111330,"date":"2026-01-16T10:53:47","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111330"},"modified":"2026-01-16T10:53:47","modified_gmt":"2026-01-16T10:53:47","slug":"seven-canoes-seized-as-navy-cracks-down-on-fuel-smuggling-in-keta-aflao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=111330","title":{"rendered":"Seven canoes seized as Navy cracks down on fuel smuggling in Keta\u2013Aflao"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 4 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div>\n<p>The Ghana Navy has disrupted a significant illegal fuel bunkering operation along the Keta\u2013Denu\u2013Aflao coastline in the Volta Region following an intelligence-led maritime patrol on Thursday, 15th January 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking at the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), Flag Officer Commanding Commodore Solomon Asiedu-Larbi said sailors onboard a Ghana Navy Ship (GNS) intercepted seven specially modified canoes, locally known as \u201cDendes,\u201d designed for fuel smuggling.<\/p>\n<p>The canoes were found to contain 378 empty barrels, suggesting their use in large-scale illicit fuel operations.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"673\"src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32.jpg\" alt=\"Seven canoes seized as Navy cracks down on fuel smuggling in Keta\u2013Aflao\" class=\"wp-image-10032952046\" title=\"Seven canoes seized as Navy cracks down on fuel smuggling in Keta\u2013Aflao\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-1024x673.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-300x197.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-768x505.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-456x300.jpg 456w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-213x140.jpg 213w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-150x99.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-218x143.jpg 218w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-645x424.jpg 645w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-330x217.jpg 330w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-225x148.jpg 225w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-217x143.jpg 217w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-340x223.jpg 340w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-228x150.jpg 228w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32-55x36.jpg 55w, https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1-32.jpg 1126w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"><\/figure>\n<p>Commander James Dzigbordzi Agrah, Command Operations Officer at the ENC, explained that syndicates typically use offshore \u201cmother vessels\u201d to offload stolen fuel onto smaller canoes, which are then transported to coastal landing sites.<\/p>\n<p>The suspects reportedly fled upon sighting the naval vessel, leaving the canoes abandoned, which were later seized and towed to the harbour.<\/p>\n<p>Commodore Asiedu-Larbi emphasised that such illegal operations result in significant revenue losses through tax evasion, contaminate local markets with adulterated fuel, and threaten marine ecosystems through fuel spills, endangering fish stocks and coastal livelihoods.<\/p>\n<p>The Ghana Navy has called on coastal communities to remain vigilant and report any suspicious maritime activity, stressing that community cooperation is vital to protecting national security, safeguarding marine biodiversity, and ensuring the sustainability of Ghana\u2019s blue economy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"111330\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" 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Keta\u2013Aflao\" loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Seven canoes seized as Navy cracks down on fuel smuggling in Keta\u2013Aflao\">The Ghana Navy has disrupted a significant illegal fuel bunkering operation along the Keta\u2013Denu\u2013Aflao coastline in the Volta Region following an intelligence-led maritime patrol on Thursday, 15th January 2026.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2280,536,1883,10,9,946],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-111330","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fuel","category-ghana","category-national","category-politics","category-popular","category-volta-region"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111330","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=111330"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111330\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/111331"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=111330"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=111330"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=111330"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}