More Cocaine Arrives

Whether this country is considered a transit point, international warehouse or consumption centre, cocaine in Ghana may for some unforeseeable period remain an issue worth debating over.

In fact it may never die if nothing drastic is done soon.

This is because in spite of the latest law passed last week by Parliament, tailored to curb what has now become a canker, and in the heat of on-going investigations that stand the risk of denting the good image of the Ghana Police Service, more head-loads of the 'valuable global powder' have continued to arrive in the country even as late as this Tuesday.

Unlike the previous ones grabbed at Ningo, East Legon and Tema, which came by sea, the latest haul was brought in by road through the eastern corridor of the country. But luck run against the baron, a Ghanaian male, The Chronicle can say, when Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS) officials at the Dabala checkpoint in the Volta region intercepted the stuff.

According to CEPS sources at Aflao and Dabala, who pleaded anonymity citing security reasons, the substance in two large parcels were concealed in a travelling bag aboard an Accra-bound passenger vehicle from Aflao.

"Yes, your findings are true." The paper was told. "My men arrested the person on Tuesday evening.

Each parcel weighed 1.1kg (gross), making it a total of 2.2kg (gross), and we are sending both the suspect and the substance to headquarters in Accra this morning. This is all I can tell you."

Asked whether the interception was made upon a tip-off, the senior officer said they were on their routine check at the post when the drug was found on "the young man".

When the paper enquired why the vehicle, on which the stuff was found, was allowed to go, another source explained that the officers found the drugs on the suspect who was on the vehicle, meaning they were able to identify "the young man" as the owner of the substance, in which case the vehicle was cleared.

"What we do is that we ask all passengers to get down when they get here, and it was when this man submitted his bag for searching that we found the substance concealed in brown packages in a black bag. I think the suspect may be in his early twenties," another officer explained, adding that if it is confirmed to be cocaine, the 2.2kg weight could have a street value close to $2 million or at least £1 million.

The paper gathered that after Tuesday's arrest, the suspect was first taken to Aflao for initial interrogation before he was sent off to Accra yesterday.

Meanwhile, officials at the CEPS headquarters have remained tight-lipped over the development for fear of jumping the gun.

The latest arrest brings to the fore the fact that drug barons are so daring they can apply every method to beat the system.

It is recalled that in mid-May this year, a large quantity of cocaine was arrested at Great Ningo in the Dangme West district near Tema. The police then told the media that it was concealed in 67 cartons, but failed to give out the tonnage and street value.

Observers believed that smugglers resorted to diverting their 'goods' through Great Ningo, because the police barrier at Kpone had been removed, and then sent it further east to Tsopoli.

It is not clear whether the whistleblower in the historic haul was rewarded as promised by the police, but the paper is aware that a lot of 'unpalatable letters' had been flying among personnel ever since the story broke in June this year.

Other arrests were made on high seas at Tema and other places, and investigations are on-going.

One other thing that is also not clear is whether this suspect in the Dabala case would be treated according to the new law that Parliament has only just passed a few days ago, considering that it is still awaiting Presidential assent.