‘Who is financing all this?’ – Victoria Bright questions networks behind Ghana-linked drug trade

International corporate lawyer Victoria Bright has called on Ghana to shift its focus beyond individual drug seizures and delve into the intricate web of organised crime networks that facilitate narcotics trafficking through the country. During an interview on Newsfile, Bright pointed out that repeated seizures of drug consignments linked to Ghana indicate a larger issue that demands scrutiny of the systems and institutions being exploited by traffickers.

"We need to look beyond these individual drug seizures and examine the broader questions of organised crime, allegations of political influence, institutional accountability, and our vulnerability as a transit point for international drug traffickers," she stated.

The frequency and scale of recent seizures involving consignments linked to Ghana have been particularly alarming due to the multiple ways in which these shipments have been intercepted, including via commercial containers, road transport, and passenger aviation. Bright pointed out that some of the largest consignments linked to Ghana have managed to evade detection locally but were intercepted only after reaching Europe and other destinations.

This led her to question the extent of trafficking networks and how they consistently manage to move drugs through Ghana's ports and airports, as well as the individuals or entities that may be financing these operations and benefiting from them.

Bright argued that the matter should be addressed as a broader national security concern and an issue of institutional accountability, rather than merely as a series of big drug busts. "We have to consider this issue now as a serious national security and institutional integrity question rather than just a series of big drug busts," she emphasized.