Netherlands Phone theft
Sena Atoklo goes on the trail of the mobile phone thieves in the Joy FM edition of 'Global Perspective'. "Stealing a phone is the fastest means of making money," say the former criminals he meets. "Much better than taking a wallet that might turn out to be empty!"
On the streets of Accra, everyone seems to be shouting into a mobile phone. "That's the problem," according to the owner of one phone shop, "they all want to show off their phones and so they become victims."
Sena Atoklo of Joy FM investigates mobile phone crime in Ghana for the international exchange series Global Perspective 2006 - focusing on the theme of Crime.
Heading down Tiptoe Lane, which has a reputation for illegal business, there's a huge selection of second-hand phones and business is brisk. Sena meets the guys who sell the phones on Tiptoe Lane to hear not only where they get them, but also their accounts of how they check the phones have not been stolen.
He meets a stallholder who offers a three-day warranty with the phones he sells; and one who insists on being supplied with the phone's charger if the person selling it can't provide the original receipt.
Roadside market in Accra, the capital of Ghana
The international circulation of stolen mobile phones is hugely profitable. Mobiles taken in Britain have been traced to Ghana. In Tiptoe Lane, the stall holders say they get their supplies from Finland, Dubai and Italy - brand-new ones as well as second-hand ones - all legitimate, they claim Sena hears from the policeman running the world's only dedicated mobile phone unit, who is based in London, and from Ghana's police who say they are getting to grips with the crime. He also hears how an education programme is helping people to make sure they are not the targets of phone thieves.
Legitamate Second Hand Mobile Phones
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