The Deputy Director-General in charge of Enforcement, Control and Elimination at the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Alexander Twum-Barimah, has downplayed calls for public recognition of Ghana’s role in the recent cocaine seizure in Lebanon, insisting that the ultimate objective should be to arrest suspects and dismantle drug trafficking networks.

He said the Commission was more concerned about the impact of its international collaborations on criminal networks than receiving public acknowledgement from foreign authorities.

According to a report by adomonline.com on November 4, 2026, Twum-Barimah maintained that recognition in public statements would not contribute to the prosecution of suspects or disrupt the operations of drug cartels.

“Mentioning our name in their statement does not arrest the suspects, nor does it give us credit in the prosecution. The real impact is to make arrests, stop the flow of revenue and break their cartels,” he said.

He explained that NACOC had been engaging directly with Lebanese authorities responsible for narcotics control and had received several intelligence reports from them.

According to him, the failure of Lebanon’s Prime Minister to publicly mention NACOC in his statement on the operation should not be interpreted as evidence that the two countries were not collaborating.

NACOC arrests three foreigners over 46.7kg cocaine shipment from Ghana to Lebanon

“If the Prime Minister does not mention NACOC in his statement, it does not mean there is no collaboration. I have all the messages and correspondence on my phone. We are not working in vain,” he stated.

Twum-Barimah further stressed that international cooperation was critical to the fight against organised drug trafficking, arguing that no country could effectively combat the menace without support from other security agencies.

“One country cannot fight this battle alone. We need collaboration,” he added.

He, however, expressed reluctance to discuss details of the operation publicly, indicating that investigations and other intelligence work were still ongoing.

“I wish I were not commenting on this issue because this is not the time for narration. There is a lot of work to be done,” he indicated.

His comments come amid public scrutiny of Ghana’s involvement in an operation that led to the arrest of a Syrian national in Lebanon in connection with a cocaine consignment linked to Ghana.

MRA/BAI

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