The Minority in Parliament is demanding a full-scale, independent parliamentary inquiry into what it describes as Ghana’s growing emergence as a narcotics transit hub under the NDC government.
In a press statement dated September 13, 2026, the Minority Caucus said Ghana had repeatedly featured in major narcotics trafficking cases both locally and internationally over the past 18 months.
The statement, signed by the Ranking Member of the Committee on Defence and Interior, Hon. Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, cited a series of cocaine and methamphetamine seizures in Ghana and abroad involving consignments allegedly linked to the country.
According to the Minority, the seizures linked to Ghana under the current NDC administration have a combined value of more than US$1 billion.
The Caucus said the incidents raise questions about the effectiveness of measures in place to prevent Ghana’s ports, airports and territorial waters from being exploited by international drug trafficking networks.
The Minority cited the interception on March 4, 2025, of a tipper truck at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast by the National Intelligence Bureau.
The truck, according to the statement, was carrying more than 3.3 tonnes of cocaine concealed beneath sand and travelling from Takoradi to Accra. The Minority put the estimated street value of the consignment at more than US$350 million.
It also cited the interception, within the same period, of another consignment estimated at 120 slabs of cocaine along the Takoradi–Cape Coast highway, with an approximate value of US$150 million.
The statement further referenced the seizure by the Tema Regional Police Command on August 5, 2026, of 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in sacks of gari at a warehouse within the Tema Harbour enclave.
The consignment was valued at US$6.9 million, according to the Minority.
The Caucus also raised concerns over two other incidents it said remain unresolved.
These include the alleged landing at Kotoka International Airport on or around March 20, 2025, of an aircraft said to have been carrying narcotics and undeclared US currency from Gran Canaria.
The second is the July 2025 MV Sankofa incident, in which the Minority said a vessel sailing under a forged flag and liable to a fine of almost GH¢12 million was released by the Ghana Maritime Authority after paying only a fraction of the amount.
The Minority said the vessel was released without a full inspection of its cargo and was arrested days later in Senegal carrying narcotics.
The Minority also cited two seizures outside Ghana involving consignments allegedly traced to the country.
It said Australian customs authorities seized 320kg of methamphetamine on June 18, 2026, concealed in a charcoal consignment traced to Ghana. The statement valued the consignment at US$261 million.
It further referenced a Reuters report dated September 10, 2026, which said French customs officers at the port of Dunkirk had seized nearly 3.9 metric tonnes of cocaine valued at more than US$260 million.
According to the Minority, the cocaine was concealed in a container of plastic waste that had departed Ghana.
The Caucus said the incidents, taken together, represented more than US$1 billion in narcotics seizures linked to Ghana in less than two years.
Beyond the seizures themselves, the Minority expressed concern about the progress of investigations and prosecutions following the incidents.
It cited the Pedu Junction case in particular, claiming that more than a year after the seizure, only the driver, a housemaid and a small number of peripheral suspects had been arraigned and remained on bail.
The Minority questioned why the alleged financiers and high-profile dealers behind what it described as a US$350 million cocaine shipment had not been identified and prosecuted.
It argued that the alleged pattern of couriers, drivers, mates and freight-forwarding agents being brought before the courts while the alleged owners of consignments remain unidentified raises questions about the seriousness, independence and reach of investigations.
Call for parliamentary inquiry
The Minority said the frequency and scale of narcotics-related incidents under the Mahama-led NDC government, together with what it described as the silence of agencies responsible for preventing drug trafficking, should concern Ghanaians.
It specifically cited the Ghanaian port authorities’ alleged lack of a public account of the Dunkirk seizure, what it described as the National Drug Control Commission’s (NACOC) silence, and the Ghana Maritime Authority’s failure to publicly explain the circumstances surrounding the release of the MV Sankofa.
The Caucus is therefore calling for an independent parliamentary inquiry into what it describes as possible complicity, negligence or failure of oversight involving the Ministry of the Interior, Ministry of Transport, NACOC leadership, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Ghana Immigration Service and the Bureau of National Investigations.
It wants the sector ministers and heads of the relevant agencies summoned before Parliament to account publicly for the incidents.
Among other things, the Minority wants Parliament to establish the status and outcome of investigations into each of the seizures cited and why prosecutions, where they have occurred, have allegedly focused on lower-level suspects rather than the financiers and principal traffickers.
It is also demanding an explanation of the circumstances surrounding the release of the MV Sankofa, including who authorised the reduced fine and why the vessel was allowed to sail without a full inspection.
The Minority is further seeking details of the concrete measures being implemented to secure Ghana’s ports, airports and territorial waters against continued exploitation by international drug trafficking networks.
“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,” the Minority said.
The Caucus said it would continue to pursue the matter until the issues were fully investigated and those found responsible were held accountable.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
