Govt declares war on narcotic drugs

Accra, July 04, GNA - Government on Tuesday declared war on narcotic drugs in the country saying it would act decisively on the recommendations of the Committee that investigated the disappearance of five kilograms out of 30 kilograms of cocaine from the Narcotic Controls Boards'(NCB) Office.

Announcing this in Accra, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of the Interior, said the Government had received the report and the Attorney-General was studying it to give the appropriate advice. Mr Kan-Dapaah said this when he inaugurated another five-member Committee to investigate circumstances that led to the suspected disappearance of parcels of narcotic drugs from a seized vessel on April 27, 2006.

The NCB upon intelligence information on the said date intercepted the vessel with the assistance of Ghana Navy and after a careful search discovered a leather bag containing 30 slabs of whitish substance suspected to be cocaine.

Mr Kan-Dapaah explained the original intelligence information revealed that there were 70 parcels in the vessel with each parcel containing 30 kilograms of cocaine.

He said when the vessel was intercepted only 30 kilograms of cocaine was found suggesting that the 77 parcels were taken out of the vessel prior to the interception.

"The question that we have to ask ourselves is what happened to the 77 parcels?" The Minister quizzed.

He said the Committee was therefore expected to find out the person(s) who brought the parcels on board the vessel, and determine the actual numbers of narcotic parcels on the vessel immediately before it was intercepted.

It would also determine whether some of the parcels on board the vessel were removed from it before it was intercepted and if so to establish when and how this happened and recommend appropriate punishment.
Besides, the Committee should establish the whereabouts of the parcels of narcotic drugs and investigate any other issues relating to the loss of the drugs and to make recommendation on how to avoid them in future.
Mr Kan-Dapaah said the Committee was also expected to investigate the various allegations levelled against some Police Officers with respect to the seizure of a quantity of narcotic drugs at East Legon and to advise on the appropriate actions to be taken in that respect. The Committee members were, Ms Georgina Wood, a Supreme Court Judge; Mr Kwaku Duah, Deputy Director, Bureau of National Investigation; Ms Jemima Mograbi, Barrister of Law; Mr Ransford Tetteh, President, Ghana Journalists Association, and Mr Abraham Ossei Aidooh, Member of Parliament.
The Minister said the Government viewed narcotic drugs as posing a great threat not only to the country but also to the world at large.
"Ghana does not want to earn for itself the dubious reputation of being a major transit point for hard drugs. This cannot and should not be tolerated", he said.
Mr Kan-Dapaah said the Government would continue to work with the global community to do all that it could to ensure that the negative identification of the country with narcotics drugs was erased. Ms Wood said they considered the task a national duty and called on any person, who had any information on the matter not to hesitate to contact the members of the Committee.