Ouagadougou: The Central Judicial Police announced on Tuesday that they had dismantled two groups of criminals specializing in armed assaults and a counterfeit banknote distributor and presented their loot, which included five motorcycles, 10,530,000 FCFA of counterfeit banknotes and 7,506,000 FCFA of authorized banknotes.
According to Burkina Information Agency, the head of the Central Regional Judicial Police Service, Chief Superintendent of Police Josu© Zabsonr©, stated that the first group, consisting of three hooded offenders armed with automatic pistols, operated in the Karpala, Ragnongo, Wamtenga, and Balkuy neighborhoods. The stolen mopeds were transported to Ghana, and the phones were concealed at the Zabr'Daaga market.
The second group, consisting of seven criminals, four of whom were on the run, operated with firearms and machetes. They targeted people with large sums of money or those traveling with high-value vehicles in the city of Ouagadougou and surrounding areas, where they caused the deaths of several people.
According to the Chief Police Commissioner, Josu© Zabsonr©, this group, which had been operating for more than 15 years, caused financial damage of 500 million FCFA.
The third criminal, who specialized in counterfeiting currency, had 1,307 counterfeit notes in his possession and intended to put them into circulation in several countries in the sub-region, Mr. Zabsonr© said. According to the Chief Police Commissioner, these notes, consisting of 837 notes of 10,000 francs, 422 notes of 5,000 francs and 50 notes of 1,000 francs, came from Nigeria and Benin.