Nayele coke saga: Aning suggests "total overhaul" at NACOB

The dissolution of the Governing Board of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) by President John Mahama is not enough, says Security Analyst Dr Kwesi Aning.

The Head of the Department of Research at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping and Training Centre (KAIPTC) believes there is the need for a “total overhaul” of NACOB and all supporting security structures that allow drug traffickers to outsmart the security system in the country.

The President announced the dissolution of the Board Saturday following the arrest of a Ghanaian Lady, who also holds Austrian citizenship, Nayele Ametefeh, at London’s Heathrow Airport with 12.5kgs of cocaine.

Ametefeh, according to Anthony Smith – former NACOB Security Commander at the Kototoka International Airport (KIA) – is a known narcotics trafficker who uses several aliases to outwit security officers. She was arrested on November 9/10 at Heathrow Airport after outwitting security officers at Ghana’s Kotoka International Airport with the consignment.

She had 10kgs of cocaine concealed in one of two briefcases she had with her, and hid the remainder of the drug in her hand luggage. There are strong suspicions that she may have had help from some people in hauling the drugs from KIA to Heathrow.

Dr Aning, who earlier called for “heads to roll” in an interview with STARR FM’s Kweku Obeng Adjei, prior to the President’s dissolution of the NACOB’s Governing Board, now says the President must go beyond the Board.

“This is not enough,” he told Joy FM’s newsfile host Samson Lardi Anyenini Saturday. He said there must be a drastic overhaul of NACOB and its entire supporting structure, in order to seal the security loopholes.

He said such an overhaul must be “dramatic and quick” in order to restore NACOB’s lost integrity, a situation which resulted from the Board’s countered claim that it collaborated with UK authorities in effecting the arrest.

Dr Aning also suggested that there must be a bipartisan commission with the powers of a high court, set up by the President to investigate the circumstances under which Ametefeh was able to traffic 12.5kgs of cocaine to the UK, without NACOB knowing about it.