Drug bust: NACOC should be part of port inspection team – Twum-Barimah

Deputy Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Alexander Twum-Barimah, has urged the Commission to be a part of the teams conducting inspections of containers entering and leaving Ghana's ports. Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Twum-Barimah asserted that NACOC's participation was crucial to enhance efforts in spotting and halting narcotics trafficking, especially considering that containers are frequently loaded outside the ports before being transported into the country's ports.

His remarks come after recent drug arrests and increased calls for stronger steps to stop Ghana from being used as a route for illicit drugs. He questioned why authorities would limit the number of entities involved in port inspections without including NACOC, the agency specifically designated to handle narcotics. "Why aren’t we interested in ensuring that everything that is inside the container leaving your jurisdiction is clean?" he questioned.

Twum-Barimah argued that even though restricting the number of agencies might be meant to encourage trade, narcotics control should still be a top priority. He believed that NACOC should be included in the inspection process because the other agencies don't have the same specific duty to capture narcotics. "Even if you are limiting agencies for purposes of facilitating trade, in my own wisdom, I will tell you that an agency such as Narcotics Commission should never…” he stated.

He added, "Which of them had the mandate to apprehend narcotics? None. FDA doesn’t have role with narcotics, GSA, Customs doesn’t have any role with narcotics, so why wouldn’t you attach an agency such as Narcotics Control Commission to such a team?" Additionally, Twum-Barimah suggested that even if authorities decide to use one inspection team to simplify operations at the ports, NACOC should still be represented.

"Even if it is going to be one team standing, it should be NACOC," he emphasized. Regarding NACOC's internal improvements, the Deputy Director-General disclosed that the Commission had taken internal steps to address significant institutional weaknesses impacting its operations. He said the Commission had worked over the past two years to bolster its position and ensure proper integration into Ghana’s security and intelligence framework.

"The point is that we have behind the scenes done a lot of work on this issue, having been in office for almost two years," he explained. According to him, the Commission had previously been left out of important security structures despite its mandate to combat narcotics-related crimes. He also pointed out the Commission's omission from the framework established under Ghana’s Security and Intelligence Agencies Act, enacted in 2020.

"Meanwhile, it was 2020 that they made the law on Security Intelligence Act. When they were enacting that Act, deliberately, they omitted NACOC," he remarked. Twum-Barimah stated that the issue had since been resolved. "We had to fix that problem. Today, now it is fixed. A lot has been done," he concluded. He stressed that better integration of NACOC into port inspection and national security structures would enhance Ghana's ability to uncover and intercept narcotics before they enter or leave the country.