Genuine Ghanaian exporters may face heightened foreign inspections over drug busts – Lawyer

Lawyer and lecturer at the Ghana School of Law, Lenin Nicholas Anane Agyei, has warned that recent drug trafficking incidents could have wider economic consequences, with Ghanaian exporters of legitimate products potentially facing heightened inspections in foreign jurisdictions.

Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 26, Mr Anane Agyei said the reputational damage associated with growing concerns over narcotics trafficking could extend beyond security and law enforcement to affect legitimate businesses.

“The reputational damage that occurs as a result of that perception is very serious. More importantly, it has an impact on our economy, because we have exporters of genuine products now going to experience heightened inspection in foreign jurisdictions,” he said.

His comments come amid a series of recent drug busts and calls for stronger measures to prevent Ghana from being used as a transit route for narcotics.

Systemic lapses

Mr Anane Agyei said the recent developments pointed to lapses in Ghana’s systems that must be addressed by the authorities responsible for national security and narcotics control.

“There have been some lapses in our system, and so regardless of how you want to look at it, those lapses happened under this government, and so somebody must be responsible for it under this government,” he said.

He maintained that with the government having been in office for two years, responsibility for identifying and addressing weaknesses in the system should not be shifted elsewhere.

According to him, security and narcotics-control officials have a responsibility to continuously assess existing systems, identify gaps and introduce measures to address them.

“If indeed there are security gaps, there are narcotics bosses who are supposed to be overseeing the system; part of overseeing the system is evaluating the system to identify gaps in the system so you can improve those gaps that were existing previously,” he said.

Concerns over Ghana as trafficking route

Mr Anane Agyei said the volume of drugs intercepted within a relatively short period raised concerns about how international trafficking networks might be assessing Ghana’s systems.

He suggested that the recent incidents could indicate that drug cartels were beginning to perceive Ghana as an easier route for moving narcotics.

“The events that are happening make it clear that whatever the reason is, these drug cartels are beginning to identify Ghana as an easy place to send drugs through. And that is why we are having these volumes of drugs within this short period,” he said.

He stressed that the consequences could go beyond the seizure of narcotics and the arrest of suspects, warning that perceptions of Ghana as a possible trafficking route could affect legitimate trade.

According to him, increased scrutiny of Ghanaian consignments in foreign markets could result in additional checks and delays for exporters dealing in genuine products.

Mr Anane Agyei therefore called on the authorities to identify weaknesses within Ghana’s security and narcotics-control systems and take steps to prevent traffickers from exploiting them.