Ghana Police Arrest Four Suspects Linked to Multi-Million Cedi Jewelry Heists

The man Ghana police believe organized one of the country's most systematic jewelry theft operations traveled with a gold detector, a diamond detector, and a precision weighing scale. Abdul Aziz Mamoud, 40, an American national who operated under the alias Justin Martin, was not simply grabbing what was accessible. According to the Anti-Armed Robbery Unit of the CID, he was selecting.

Ghana Police arrested Mamoud and three co-suspects on March 24, 2026, at Anyaa and Osu in the Greater Accra Region, closing out an investigation into at least four high-value attacks on jewelry shops across Greater Accra and the Western Region between April and October 2025. The other suspects: Abubakar Mamoud, 28; Edgar Donkor, 33; and Donatus Donkor, 37, a carpenter. Together, police allege they stripped retail display cases of an estimated GH₵22 million in gold, silver, and diamond pieces across a seven-month campaign.

The documented incidents followed a nearly identical playbook. On April 26, 2025, at approximately 9:30 a.m., the gang struck Rhyme Jewellery shop at Westlands near Haatso in Accra. Court filings name the shop as Berma Jewellery. Donatus Donkor allegedly engaged the security guard at the entrance as Mamoud entered behind him, masked, gloved, and wearing a pullover. Mamoud pepper-sprayed both the guard and a shop attendant, then filled a bag with gold chains, pendants, earrings, and bracelets before riding away on a motorbike, leaving GH₵2 million worth of pieces gone. Less than a month later, on May 17, 2025, between 10:45 and 11:00 a.m., the same approach was used at a jewelry shop in Takoradi in the Western Region. The take there was GH₵17 million, the largest single haul linked to the group. A September 11 attack near Nyaho Clinic at Dzorwulu in Accra yielded GH₵1.8 million; a final documented strike at East Legon on October 25 produced another GH₵2 million.

CCTV footage from one of the incidents shows an alleged suspect, fully masked, smashing the glass display door with a hammer before packing pieces into a Ghana Must Go bag as an accomplice waited on a motorbike outside. DCOP Grace Ansah-Akrofi, Director General of the Public Affairs Directorate, said investigations identified Abdul Aziz Mamoud as the leader of the gang, responsible for recruiting members and coordinating the attacks, and that several of the robberies were captured on CCTV cameras, which played a key role in tracking the suspects.

Detectives retrieved a hammer, believed to have been used to shatter display glass, along with a black face mask, a toy pistol, a gold detector, a gold weighing scale, a diamond detector, a backpack, hand gloves, a helmet, and two motorbikes from the suspects' residences. Mamoud faces charges of conspiracy, robbery, causing unlawful damage, and money laundering. All four remain in custody pending court proceedings.

WHAT IT MEANS THIS WEEK

For jewelry retailers across Greater Accra and the coast, these four incidents describe a specific vulnerability: ground-floor shops with glass display frontage, attacked during mid-morning business hours. The earliest strike came at 9:30 a.m.; the Takoradi attack fell between 10:45 and 11:00 a.m. Reviewing the quantity of high-value gold in open display cases during the first trading hour costs far less than a single incident. CCTV ultimately broke this case, but only after GH₵22 million had already left the display cases.

For consumers, the gold detector and diamond detector recovered from the suspects' residence reframes the risk. This gang was not taking everything within reach; it was quality-selecting. If you own significant gold chains or diamond pieces, a retail receipt alone provides insufficient protection. A certified gemological appraisal, updated annually, is the document that anchors an insurance claim or establishes buyback value when a piece is disputed, lost, or stolen. Most insurers require independent valuation documentation for settlement of high-value jewelry claims; without it, even a legitimate claim can stall for months.

On wearing high-visibility gold in commercial neighborhoods: these attacks targeted retail inventory, not individuals on the street. But the logic of visibility extends. Heavy link chains, wide cuff bracelets, or layered necklaces worn openly in dense commercial areas of Accra carry a different calculus now. Keeping statement pieces inside a collar or opting for lower-profile gold on routine outings is not overcaution in the current climate.

The money laundering charge against Mamoud signals that prosecutors believe stolen pieces moved through traceable sale channels. Anyone who purchased second-hand gold in Greater Accra or Takoradi between April and October 2025 would be well-served by documentation of that transaction: seller identity, sale date, and price paid. It is a straightforward record to keep, and its value is no longer theoretical.