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

The Deputy Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Alexander Twum-Barimah, revealed that only Customs officers and officials from Meridian Port Services (MPS) are present in the scanning room where containers are inspected for suspicious items. During an interview on JoyNews’ Newsfile, Mr. Twum-Barimah stated that Customs officers are tasked with examining images generated by the scanners and investigating any irregularities discovered during the process.

This disclosure comes after recent drug seizures and heightened concerns regarding the transportation of illicit drugs through Ghana’s ports. Mr. Twum-Barimah emphasized the critical role of Customs officers in the scanning room, noting that they are the ones responsible for interpreting the images produced by the scanning equipment.

He added that the containers implicated in recent drug seizures had indeed undergone the scanning process, which has sparked questions about how they managed to bypass inspection without any abnormalities being detected. According to Mr. Twum-Barimah, Customs officers have been arrested to investigate how these containers managed to pass through the scanning system despite failing to raise any alarms.

The scanning procedure, explained Mr. Twum-Barimah, is designed to flag any unusual substances found within a container. The scanner is supposed to alert those monitoring it of any abnormalities detected. Upon receiving an alert, it is the duty of the officers to conduct a thorough investigation and possibly perform a physical examination to determine the nature of the abnormality.

Mr. Twum-Barimah emphasized that the arrest of the Customs officers aims to uncover the reasons behind the containers' successful passage through the scanning process, despite their subsequent association with narcotics seizures.