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It was alleged that they were engaging in �sakawa� with which they swindled a number of Shell shops, Mobil marts and supermarkets of their items and cash within the Tamale Metropolis. Usuf Cavusugllar, 23, Kaya Thurgat, 28, and Murat Altuntas, also 28, were arrested when they tried using their �sakawa� powers to allegedly dupe a salesgirl at the Sakasaka Shell shop. They were reported to have entered the region through neigbouring Burkina Faso and were also alleged to have duped other persons of various sums of money on their way under similar instances. The modus operandi of the three, according to the police, was entering the premises of their prey under the guise of buying certain items. While interacting with the shop attendants, they would disclose that they were strangers in the country and required some education on the various currency denominations of the country. As they were being educated on the currency, they would hold the monies, feel the texture and thereafter either buy something less than GH�1 or buy nothing at all. After their departure, monies were mysteriously found missing from the sales box. At other instances, it was alleged they tried buying MTN recharge cards of GH�7.50 from one of the shops but when the salesgirl served them, they held the card, looked at it, and returned it for a GH�2 recharge card. Hours after their departure, it was detected that 10 pieces of GH�7.50 and 7 pieces of GH�5.00 MTN recharge cards had disappeared from the stalls, by which time they had also vanished into the thin air. Their cover was however blown when they went to the Sakasaka Shell Shop to take their booty before leaving for Sunyani, according to them. Upon entering the shop, Mr. Yusif Sadik, manager of the shop, noticed their presence and cautioned the salesgirl to be more vigilant, in view of the fact that they had succeeded in duping the salesgirl in the other shop. They cunningly tried pulling a fast one on the salesgirl but were caught and reported to the manager who invited them into his office where they admitted their guilt and disclosed that they were behind similar incidents in other shops. The trio begged the manager to spare them and allow them pay for the cost of whatever item had been lost in the process, but he refused to take their plea, locked them in his office and immediately reported them to the police. But for the timely intervention of the military patrol team, the aliens would have been lynched by the thunderous crowd that had gathered at the shop to catch a glimpse of them. They were immediately whisked to the police station and placed behind bars for their caution statements to be taken while investigations were ongoing. Mr. Yusif Sadik, the complainant, expressed shock at their sudden release, saying justice and fair play had been downplayed in the matter. He registered his preparedness to pursue the matter until the court decided on the fate of the three.