The Member of Parliament for Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has outlined measures being taken by government following an ongoing investigation into the trafficking of drugs through Ghana’s ports.
Speaking in a JoyNews interview, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu said 10 individuals have been arrested in connection with the investigation, including four officers of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority and six private Ghanaian citizens.
Get more exclusive breaking news updates on our WhatsApp channel .
He said the identities of the six private individuals are being withheld to avoid compromising the investigation and alerting other targets.
According to him, the investigation is being handled by an inter-agency team involving Customs, the Department of National Intelligence (DNI), National Security and other intelligence agencies.
He said President John Dramani Mahama has directed the task force to produce a roadmap within two weeks outlining measures to prevent future narcotics shipments from passing through Ghana’s borders.
Mr. Kwakye Ofosu also disclosed that the President has revoked a 2018 directive that excluded the Narcotics Control Commission (NACO) from port screenings.
The directive had originally been introduced to address disagreements between agencies but has now been considered counterproductive.
Under the new arrangement, NACO will have access to all points of import and export to participate in the screening of items.
He said the government’s objective is to ensure that Ghana is not used as a transit point for narcotics.
The inter-agency task force has 14 days from the date of the President’s meeting to present its roadmap on measures to prevent a recurrence of such shipments.
