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, has called for the Commission to be included in teams responsible for inspecting containers entering and leaving Ghana’s ports.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, Mr Twum-Barimah argued that NACOC’s involvement was necessary to strengthen efforts to detect and prevent narcotics trafficking, particularly as containers are often loaded outside the port before being transported into the country’s ports.

His comments come amid recent drug busts and renewed calls for stronger measures to prevent Ghana from being used as a transit point for illicit drugs.

He questioned why authorities would limit the number of agencies involved in port inspections without including the institution specifically mandated to deal with narcotics.

“Why aren’t we interested in ensuring that everything that is inside the container leaving your jurisdiction is clean?” he asked.

Mr Twum-Barimah said although limiting the number of agencies involved in inspections may be intended to facilitate trade, narcotics control should remain a priority.

He argued that NACOC should be included in the inspection arrangement because the other agencies involved do not have the same specific mandate to apprehend 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 said.

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?”

Mr Twum-Barimah further proposed that even where authorities opt for a single inspection team to streamline operations at the ports, NACOC should be represented.

“Even if it is going to be one team standing, it should be NACOC,” he said.

NACOC ‘institutional gaps’ addressed

The NACOC Deputy Director-General also disclosed that the Commission had undertaken internal efforts to address what he described as significant institutional gaps affecting its operations.

He said the Commission had, over the past two years, worked to strengthen its institutional position and ensure that it is properly integrated into Ghana’s security and intelligence architecture.

“The point is that we have behind the scene done a lot of work on this issue, having been in office for almost two years,” he said.

According to him, the Commission inherited an institution with several gaps which, in his assessment, had weakened its effectiveness in narcotics control.

He said NACOC had previously been excluded from important security structures despite its mandate to combat narcotics-related offences.

“NACOC was not part of anything under their tenure, not even part of the regional and district security council,” Mr Twum-Barimah said.

He also raised concerns about the Commission’s exclusion from the framework created under Ghana’s Security and Intelligence Agencies Act.

According to him, although the legislation was enacted in 2020, NACOC was omitted from the relevant security architecture.

“Meanwhile, it was 2020 that they made the law on Security Intelligence Act. When they were enacting that Act, deliberately, they omitted NACOC,” he said.

Mr Twum-Barimah said the issue had since been addressed.

“We had to fix that problem. Today, now it is fixed. A lot has been done,” he added.

He maintained that closer integration of NACOC into port inspection and national security structures would strengthen the country’s capacity to identify and intercept narcotics before they enter or leave Ghanaian territory.