Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama has directed the formation of an inter-agency task force to produce a detailed roadmap within two weeks aimed at stopping narcotic drugs from being trafficked through the country’s ports and borders.
Mahama chaired an urgent meeting of security chiefs on Thursday and received a briefing on ongoing investigations into recent cases of drugs leaving Ghana’s ports, the presidency said in a statement.
Ten people, including four officers from the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), are in custody while probes continue, the statement said. The meeting reviewed existing security systems at the ports and recommended new measures.
The latest developments follow a series of significant seizures. On Sept. 10, French customs officers at the port of Dunkirk intercepted nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in a container declared as plastic waste that had departed from Ghana’s Tema Port. The consignment, estimated to be worth more than $260 million, was partly destined for Antwerp in Belgium.
In early August, Ghanaian police seized 866 parcels of suspected cocaine hidden in sacks of gari at a warehouse in the Tema Harbour enclave. That haul was valued at about $6.9 million, with three people, including a Dutch national, arrested.
Earlier, in June, Australian authorities seized 320 kilograms of methamphetamine valued at roughly $260 million that had been concealed in a charcoal shipment traced to Ghana.
These incidents have intensified scrutiny of Ghana’s role as a potential transit point for international drug trafficking networks. Six people linked to the Dunkirk seizure, including individuals connected to the GRA, were denied bail by a court in Accra on Thursday as investigations continue.
The presidency statement was issued by Felix Kwakye Ofosu, spokesperson to the President and Minister for Government Communications.
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