Rev. Ntim Fordour, Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee, has warned that Ghana’s role as a transit hub for international narcotics trafficking is expanding, citing drug seizures that now exceed US$1 billion in less than two years.
Fordour highlighted several high‑profile seizures, including a 3.3‑tonne cocaine load intercepted at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast on March 4, 2025, and a 120‑slab cocaine consignment seized along the Takoradi‑Cape Coast highway. The former, en route from Takoradi to Accra, carried an estimated street value of more than US$350 million.
On August 5, 2026, Tema Regional Police Command seized 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in sacks of gari at a warehouse within the Tema Harbour enclave, valued at US$6.9 million. Fordour also cited unresolved incidents, such as a March 20, 2025 aircraft landing at Kotoka International Airport allegedly carrying narcotics and undeclared US$ currency from Gran Canaria, and the July 2025 MV Sankofa affair, where a vessel sailing under a forged flag was released after a partial fine and later arrested in Senegal with narcotics.
International seizures linked to Ghana further underscore the issue. Australian customs seized 320 kg of methamphetamine valued at US$261 million on June 18, 2026, while French customs officers at Dunkirk seized nearly 3.9 metric tonnes of cocaine valued at more than US$260 million in a container of plastic waste that had departed Ghana on September 10, 2026.
Fordour expressed concern that investigations remain incomplete. He noted that over a year after the Pedu Junction seizure, only the driver, a housemaid, and a handful of peripheral suspects had been arraigned and remained on bail, while financiers and high‑profile dealers behind the US$350 million shipment remain unidentified and unpunished.
The Minority is demanding a full‑scale, independent Parliamentary inquiry into these incidents, calling on sector ministers and heads of relevant agencies to account for investigations, the release of the MV Sankofa, and measures to secure Ghana’s ports, airports, and territorial waters.
“Ghana’s international reputation, and the safety of our young people from the scourge of narcotics, cannot be held hostage to official silence or political convenience,” Fordour said. “The Minority will not relent until the truth is known and those found responsible are held accountable.”
