Bawumia demands probe into financiers behind Ghana-linked cocaine shipments

New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has called for investigations into the individuals and entities financing cocaine shipments linked to Ghana.

He says the arrest of couriers alone will not address the growing concerns over the use of Ghana as a transit point for narcotics.

According to Dr Bawumia, authorities must establish who is financing and organising the shipments and how large consignments continue to pass through Ghana’s ports undetected.

“Our dear motherland is gaining notoriety for drugs being arrested abroad, having passed through our borders unnoticed. Our country’s name is being dragged through ports in Europe, and the government has answered with meetings, not results,” he said.

“Arresting couriers is not enough. Ghanaians want to know who is financing these shipments and how they keep getting through,” he added.

Dr Bawumia made the remarks on Saturday, October 3, 2026, while addressing the NPP’s National Delegates Conference at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi.

His comments come amid renewed scrutiny of Ghana’s role in international cocaine trafficking following several seizures abroad involving consignments traced to Ghana.

One of the major cases occurred in France on September 10, when French customs officers seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the northern port of Dunkirk.

The drugs, valued at about €225 million, were concealed in a container carrying plastic waste that had arrived from Ghana. The shipment was reportedly destined in part for Antwerp, Belgium.

French prosecutors subsequently opened an investigation into the criminal network suspected of being behind the shipment.

The Dunkirk seizure has intensified questions about how such a large consignment could leave Ghana undetected and reach a European port.

Dr Bawumia said the focus should therefore go beyond those physically transporting the drugs to the financiers and organisers behind the trade.

He also called for a bipartisan parliamentary committee with the power to summon witnesses and demand shipping records, according to his address to the NPP conference.

He said the issue had consequences for Ghana’s international reputation and required urgent action.

The NPP flagbearer has previously criticised the government over its handling of Ghana-linked narcotics cases and has made the issue part of his broader criticism of the government’s security and governance record.