The Minority in Parliament has raised grave concern over Ghana’s emerging status as a major transit route for international drug trafficking, following a string of high-profile narcotics seizures valued at over US$1 billion within the past eighteen months.
In a press statement issued on Sunday, 13 September 2026, Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, Hon. Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, accused the Mahama-led NDC administration of turning a blind eye to the situation, while calling for an immediate, full-scale parliamentary inquiry into state agencies tasked with border security.
Detailing a chronology of local busts, the Minority highlighted the March 2025 interception of 3.3 tonnes of cocaine hidden under sand in a tipper truck at Cape Coast, alongside another 120 slabs seized on the Takoradi–Cape Coast highway, together valued at US$500 million. Additional cases include the August 2026 discovery of 866 parcels of cocaine in sacks of gari at Tema Harbour, the suspicious landing of an aircraft from Gran Canaria at Kotoka International Airport, and the controversial release of the MV Sankofa by the Ghana Maritime Authority before it was caught days later in Senegal with narcotics on board.
International authorities have also intercepted major shipments linked to Ghanaian departure points, including 320kg of methamphetamine concealed in charcoal in Australia, and nearly 3.9 metric tonnes of cocaine hidden in plastic waste seized at the French port of Dunkirk.
Addressing the lack of high-level prosecutions, Ntim Fordjour criticised the government for failing to apprehend the kingpins behind these cartels.
“In the Pedu Junction matter, more than a year after the seizure, it is only the driver, a housemaid, and a small handful of peripheral suspects who have been arraigned and remain on bail, while the actual financiers and high-profile dealers behind a US$350 million cocaine shipment remain unidentified and unpunished,” he stated. “This pattern — in which couriers, drivers, mates, and freight-forwarding agents are paraded before the courts while the true owners of these consignments walk free — raises serious questions about the seriousness, independence, and reach of investigations under this Government.”
He added that international detection estimates suggest only one in ten trafficked consignments is caught, raising fears over the actual volume of illicit drugs passing through Ghana’s ports.
“Ghana’s international reputation, and the safety of our young people from the scourge of narcotics, cannot be held hostage to official silence or political convenience,” Ntim Fordjour asserted.
The Minority is demanding that sector Ministers and heads of key institutions — including the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Transport, NACOC, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Ghana Immigration Service, and the Bureau of National Investigations — be summoned to Parliament to account for investigation outcomes, the MV Sankofa fine reduction, and future port security measures.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
