West Africa losing narcotics war - Aning

The whole of West Africa is losing the fight against narcotics.

That is the verdict of the Head of the Department of Research at the Kofi Annan International Peace Keeping Training Centre (KAIPTC), Dr Kwesi Aning.

Aning told MORNING STARR host Kafui Dey in an interview Wednesday that the drug trafficking situation in Ghana is just a “microcosm” of the narcotics trade in West Africa, which he described as a very big business that has been entrenched for more than four decades.

In his view, the drug problem is not a Ghana problem, but an issue that must be tackled concertedly by the entire West African sub-region.

Three suspects have so far been charged in the latest narcotics haul involving a Ghanaian lady, Nayele Ametefeh, who was arrested at the Heathrow Airport by UK officials for trafficking 12.5 kilos of cocaine to London.

Nine more people have also been arrested by Ghana’s anti-drug agency, Narcotics Control Board (NACOB).

Ametefeh, who also holds Austrian citizenship, has refused to name her accomplices.

She told Ghana’s consular officials in London that she is prepared to serve time for her crime and claimed she thought the substance was gold rather than cocaine.