Legal practitioner Martin Kpebu has questioned why the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has not produced video evidence to support its claim that the recent seizure of cocaine in Lebanon formed part of a controlled delivery operation.
Speaking on TV3’s The Key Points on Saturday, November 7, Mr Kpebu also asked whether any official who allegedly accepted a bribe had been arrested.
“If you say it is a controlled delivery, how come a bribe had to be paid to let it through?” he asked.
“The way NACOC is going, it is not helpful and not the best. Who took the bribe? We should have a video of it, if it was indeed a controlled delivery. Have you arrested the one who took the bribe? We expected the controlled delivery to be on video. You can’t tell Ghanaians that you are doing a controlled delivery and there was no video,” he said.
Alexander Twum-Barimah, Deputy Director-General of NACOC, who joined the programme by telephone, said the Commission would investigate the bribery allegation.
“I have no knowledge of the alleged $3,000 payment. Investigations are ongoing, and anyone found culpable will face the law,” he said.
Kwasi Kwaryeng, a member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), described the repeated seizures of cocaine linked to Ghana as evidence of what appeared to be organised crime.
He said the government needed to explain how it intended to respond to the seizures, but had failed to do so.
“What we are seeing looks like organised crime. We expect the government to tell us what it intends doing about these drug seizures linked to Ghana,” he said.
“The scanners are able to identify cans but cannot identify the cocaine; it is surprising. The government may not be complicit, but the posturing of the government is problematic.”
The NPP has called for the immediate dismissal of the heads of NACOC, Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) and National Security.
The party says the repeated interceptions of cocaine consignments traced to Ghana at international destinations raise serious questions about the effectiveness of the country’s security and anti-narcotics agencies.
NPP cites 14 major seizures
At a press conference at the NPP Headquarters in Accra on Wednesday, 4 November, the party’s Second National Vice Chairman, Henry Nana Boakye, popularly known as Nana B, said Ghana had recorded at least 14 major cocaine and drug seizures between March 2025 and October 2026.
He said seven seizures had taken place in Ghana and involved approximately 3.6 tonnes of drugs, while more than 12 tonnes of cocaine traced to Ghana had been intercepted abroad.
The NPP estimated the street value of the cocaine seized outside Ghana at between US$1.3 billion and US$1.7 billion.
The incidents cited included nearly 4,500kg of cocaine concealed in a timber shipment from Ghana and seized in Amsterdam in June 2025.
In November 2025, 2,829kg hidden in cassava flour shipped from Tema was intercepted at Antwerp. A further 1,158kg was reportedly seized at the same Belgian port in December 2025.
French authorities intercepted approximately 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at Dunkirk in September 2026. The drugs were concealed in a container declared as plastic waste.
In Australia, police seized 320kg of illicit drugs concealed in charcoal from Ghana in April 2026. The consignment was estimated to be worth US$210 million.
“This is not a run of bad luck. It is a pattern. And a trade of this scale… does not survive without protection from those who are supposed to stop it,” Nana B said.
Questions over Beirut operation
The NPP has also challenged NACOC’s account of the seizure at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon.
Lebanese Customs, working with General Security, arrested a Syrian national who had travelled from Accra on Middle East Airlines flight MEA 576. He was carrying 40 packages of cocaine weighing 46.7kg.
The opposition party questioned why the account issued by Lebanese authorities did not refer to NACOC’s involvement or describe the seizure as a controlled delivery.
It also demanded the names of those arrested in Ghana in connection with the operation and sought answers over claims that the courier paid bribes to airport officials to facilitate the movement of the cocaine.
“An arrest without a name is not an arrest. It is a press release,” Nana B said.
The party questioned the discrepancy between the 46.7kg reported by Lebanese authorities on October 31 and the approximately 40kg cited by NACOC.
It also referred to a December 2025 case in which Lebanese Customs reportedly seized about 70kg of cocaine from Ghana. The drugs had been concealed in air freight declared as coconut oil.
The NPP is seeking answers over Musah Attah, popularly known as “Kromo”, who has been charged in connection with the cocaine shipment intercepted at Dunkirk.
It questioned how Mr Attah allegedly obtained access to the close security cordon around President John Dramani Mahama and Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang.
The party cited photographs purportedly showing him within the presidential security circle and called for an explanation of how he gained access to the two leaders.
It has also demanded that all diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025 be published.
The NPP wants the direct shipping arrangement between Tema and Cartagena in Colombia, agreed in March 2026, suspended pending a comprehensive security review.
“Colombia… is the world’s largest source of cocaine, and Cartagena is a known trafficking port,” Nana B said.
Calls for inquiry and government response
The party criticised the government for not publishing a security roadmap after an emergency meeting chaired by President Mahama on September 17.
It said the President had given an inter-agency task force two weeks to produce measures addressing the concerns over drug trafficking. The NPP said the October 1 deadline passed without the roadmap being published.
The opposition is demanding a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry, with public hearings, into all Ghana-linked cocaine seizures since January 2025.
It has also called for the task force’s roadmap to be published within seven days and for the government to issue a joint statement with Lebanese authorities confirming NACOC’s claim that the Beirut seizure was a controlled delivery.
Other demands include the publication of the names of those NACOC says it arrested in connection with the Beirut case, and the arrest and prosecution of officials allegedly involved in bribery at Accra International Airport.
The party is also seeking an update on the prosecution of Mr Attah, an explanation of his alleged access to presidential security, the publication of all diplomatic and service passports issued since January 2025, and the suspension of the Tema-Cartagena shipping arrangement.
Nana B accused President Mahama of failing to show sufficient commitment to tackling the issue.
“President Mahama is pampering activities related to cocaine and other illicit drugs. Inaction on this scale is not incompetence. It is complicity,” he said.
“The President promised Ghanaians a 24-hour economy. He did not promise a 24-hour cocaine corridor.”
