Drug barons pose as investors

The 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR)) has pointed out that Ghana’s enthusiasm in attracting foreign investment has provided a good cover for drug barons, mostly from South America to enter the country under the guise of doing legitimate business.

The report said in 2006 South American cocaine trafficking rings increased their foothold in Ghana, establishing well-developed distribution networks run by Nigerian and Ghanaian criminals.

However, the South American traffickers reduced their need to visit Ghana in person by increasing reliance on local partners, thus further insulating themselves from possible arrest by local authorities.

In 2006 Ghana was rated Africa’s most reformist country and the ninth in the world, having undertaken three major reforms in 2005- the time taken to clear goods, tax reduction and property registration. This accounts for the steady increase in the number and type of investments Ghana is attracting, but not all of them are genuine investors after all, according to the report. The wanted Venezuelan drug baron, Vasquez Gerardo Daurte was reported to have disguised and entered Ghana as an investor, ready to set up business in the free zones enclave with the alleged connivance of some top opposition politicians. It turned out that he was using the so-called investments as a cover up for his drug business.

The report also said in spite of the fact that Ghana has taken steps to combat illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and other substances, corruption and lack of resources have been hampering the nation’s efforts at combating the drug menace.

The report issued by the United States’ Department of State says a “national narcotics scandal in 2006 involving allegations of official complicity in narcotics trafficking complicated Ghana’s efforts to combat the drug trade.” The report released on March 1, 2007 also said Ghana has become a major transshipment point for illegal drugs particularly cocaine from South America as well as heroine from South East and South West Asia. Europe remains a major destination, while drugs also flow to South Africa and to North America, according to the report.

It says the Kotoka International Airport is increasingly becoming a focus for traffickers. Also Ports at Tema, Sekondi -Takoradi and border posts at Aflao (Togo) and Elubo and Sampa (Cote d’Ivoire) are also used as trafficking points.

In May 2006 five kilograms of cocaine went missing from a police locker. An ensuing investigation, received extensive domestic media attention, quickly expanded to other cases. In the most prominent case, security agencies interdicted a ship, the MV Benjamin, thought to have been carrying as much as two tons of cocaine, of which authorities only seized thirty kilograms. The scandal intensified when a secret recording that caught an Assistant Commissioner of Police and known narcotics traffickers on tape discussing cocaine shipment surfaced. An allegation by a woman that a different senior police official requested a $200,000 bribe in order to drop a case against her boyfriend, a foreign cocaine trafficker only exposed the extent of complicity of security agencies in the drugs business.

Amid the scandals, the ruling party and the opposition political parties tried to score political points. As a result of these scandals, a handful of law enforcement officials lost their jobs and the government renewed its focus on how to combat the narcotics trade.

Further, the report hints that trafficking has also fueled increasing domestic drug consumption. Cannabis use is increasing in Ghana, as is local cultivation of cannabis. Law enforcement officials have repeatedly raised concerns that narcotics rings are growing in size, strength, organization and capacity for violence. The government has mounted significant public education programs, as well as cannabis crop substitution programs.

These activities include enforcement and control, education, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, and social reintegration. The two top officials at the NCB were suspended at the outset of the 2006 narcotics scandal. The Ministry of Interior set up a fact-finding committee to investigate the loss of the two tons of cocaine apparently not seized by enforcement personnel, and related issues.

The report explained that since 1999, the Narcotics Control Board (NCB) proposed to amend the 1990 narcotics law to fund NCB operations using a portion of seized proceeds, but the Attorney General’s office has not acted on this proposal. In 2006, the Attorney General succeeded in amending the narcotics law to allow stricter application of the bail bond system when drugs suspects are being investigated.

The report lamented that attempts to amend PNDC Law 236 (1990) to enable the NCB to confiscate property and assets purchased by identified drug dealers using illegal proceeds failed.

On the positive note however, the government began drafting a Proceeds of Crime Bill and a Money Laundering Bill in 2006, and final drafts were reportedly near completion by year’s end. The government reportedly plans to present the bills to Parliament for consideration in early 2007.

The Report also says in 2006, Ghanaian law enforcement agencies continued to conduct joint police/NCB operations against narcotics cultivators, traffickers, and abusers. NCB agents, who are not armed, rely upon the police’s Criminal Investigative Division’s (CID) narcotics unit in situations requiring armed force.

The NCB continued to work with DHL, UPS, and Federal Express to intercept packages containing narcotics. As a result, total seizures of cocaine, heroin, and cannabis from January to September 2006 decreased by 17 percent compared to the same period in 2005, likely reflecting a temporary decrease in trafficking activity following the 2006 narcotics scandal.

Projected fourth quarter data (based on data for the earlier part of the year) suggests that the number of cocaine arrests in 2006 dropped to roughly half that of 2005, while heroin and cannabis arrests both showed modest declines. Ghana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention, as amended by the 1972 Protocol. U.S.-Ghana extradition relations are governed by the 1931 U.S.-U.K. Extradition Treaty.

In 2003, Ghana signed a bilateral Customs Mutual Assistance Agreement with the United States. In July 2006, Ghana ratified both the UN Convention against Corruption and the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combating Corruption. Ghana has not signed the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime.