Five suspected burglars and ex-convicts arrested in Bafoussam, Douala

Five men between the ages of 20 and 22 years who allegedly constitute a gang of burglars in Bafoussam, West region have fallen in the dragnets of elements of the West Judicial Police.

The five suspects presented by the police as ex-convicts were presented to the public on Tuesday January 10 after being arrested on different instances recently.

These suspects are accused of carrying out over 40 burglaries in 2022 in several neighborhoods in Bafoussam.

“Since January 2022 the population of Bafoussam in general and those of the Socada and brasseries neighborhoods among others have been victims of this criminal gang of five. Armed with matchetes, they burgled over 40 homes threatening and ordering the occupants to surrender money and valuable items on their possession,” revealed, Commissioner Michel Nkake Bekombo, chief of the anti-gang unit at the West Judicial Police Station.

According to the security officer, these five men were arrested in the towns of Bafoussam and Douala in the West and Littoral regions respectively. In Douala they were arrested in the Village and Ndogpassi neighbourhoods thanks to a fruitful collaboration with security officers in the economic capital.

“We started arresting them one after another on the 31st of December last year. One of them called Esprit was arrested first at about 11:00pm at carrefour Auberge while he was trying to sell some of the stolen items. He showed us the position of his accomplices in Douala particularly in the Village and Ndogpassi neighbourhoods where we got hold of them. They were in possession of diverse electronics, including flat screen tv sets, laptops, and mobile telephones. We seized five matchetes they used to carry out their operations,” the Police Officer added.

The five suspected burglars will be presented before judges in the coming days to answer to accusations against them.