More than $350 million worth of cocaine seized earlier this year has been earmarked for destruction on Friday, June 20, by the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).

0

The Criminal Division of the High Court on Thursday, June 5, ordered the destruction following confirmation testing by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA).

1

Three out of the total 2,970 slabs of the substance were taken randomly in the presence of the trial judge, Justice Ruby Aryeetey, the state and the defence attorneys, the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) and the Narcotic Control Commission (NCC) officials.

2

The destruction of the exhibits will take place at Bundase in the Greater Accra Region. A total of 3,319.66 kilogrammes (3.3 tonnes) of substance had been the centre of a trial at the High Court in recent times.

3

The testing exercise by the GSA was conducted at the NIB headquarters in Ridge, Accra, on Wednesday, June 4.

4

Background

5

A staggering 3.3 tonnes of suspected cocaine worth approximately $350 million were intercepted by the NIB in March.

6

In an attempt to evade inspection, the smugglers wrapped the cocaine in sacks and bags, hidden in heaps of sand in a tipper truck at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast in the Central Region en route to Accra.

7

Despite their cunning efforts, the vigilant NIB operatives uncovered the illicit cargo.

8

The interception marked the largest cocaine seizure in the country’s history.

9

The driver of the truck, 39-year-old Isaac Quaicoo, and his mate, Kenneth Cobbinah, a 25-year-old tertiary-level student, have been accused of importing drugs without lawful authority and are currently standing trial. The case has been adjourned to June 24.

10

Meanwhile, Kelian Julien Mensah, Jefflean Kwadjo Ntow, and Charles Hagan, who have been declared as prime suspects, remain at large.

11

Gov’t fight against narcotics

12

The Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019) was passed to restructure NACOC, giving it more autonomy and investigative powers to handle drug crimes. NACOC now uses intelligence gathering and data analysis to proactively target drug trafficking networks.

13

Ports and airports have been equipped with scanners and surveillance cameras to detect concealed drugs more efficiently. Ongoing training programs are being organized for NACOC officials and other law enforcement personnel to enhance detection and investigation skills.

14

Ghana collaborates with global institutions like the UNODC, INTERPOL, and regional counterparts for cross-border intelligence sharing and joint operations.

15

In March, an intelligence-led operation by the narcotics officials resulted in the arrest of a 56-year-old Nigerian, Uchechukwu Chima at Oyarifa, a suburb of Accra. The suspect’s hideout hoarded substances suspected to be narcotic drugs as field tests conducted on the suspected substance proved positive for cocaine and heroin, both narcotic drugs.

16

NACOC seized and arrested the suspect, saving millions of lives of people who would have otherwise perished from abusing these hard drugs.

17

In April this year, narcotics officials seized 73 packages of a substance suspected to be cocaine, weighing nearly 89.74 kilograms, destined for the Netherlands. Four Ghanaian nationals were arrested in connection with the incident.

18

Section 1 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019) stipulates that “a person who imports or exports a narcotic drug without a license issued by the Minister responsible for Health for that purpose commits an offence and on conviction is liable to a term of imprisonment of not less than ten years.”

19

“The Minister may grant a licence for importation of narcotic drugs if on an application made by a prescribed person the Minister is satisfied that the licence can be properly granted.”

20

Section 3 of the Act, however, states that “a person shall not, without lawful authority, manufacture, produce or distribute narcotic drugs.”

21