In a press conference held on Thursday, National Second Vice Chairman of the NPP, Henry Nana Boakye, urged the government to set up a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry into the seizure of 46.7 kg of cocaine at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon. Boakye said the inquiry should establish the facts surrounding the operation and address concerns over Ghana’s role in the international drug trafficking network.
He also demanded that President John Dramani Mahama publish the roadmap of the taskforce created to investigate drug trafficking activities, which was due on 1 October, within seven days. The NPP further called for a joint statement with Lebanese authorities, including the Lebanese Internal Security Force, to clarify whether the arrest in Beirut resulted from a Ghanaian‑led controlled delivery operation and to confirm when Ghanaian authorities were first informed about the operation.
Boakye expressed doubts about the Narcotics Control Commission’s (NACOC) claim that the arrest of the Syrian national on 31 October 2026 followed a coordinated operation between Ghanaian and Lebanese drug‑enforcement agencies. He said the Commission must publish the names, nationalities and charges of all persons it says have been arrested in Ghana in connection with the Beirut seizure, and that the suspects should be brought before the courts without delay.
The NPP also demanded the arrest and prosecution of any officials who accepted bribes to facilitate the passage of the Syrian suspect and his two suitcases through Accra International Airport. Boakye called for the removal of the leadership of NACOC and the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), arguing that the institutions responsible for protecting the country’s airports and ports had failed to prevent Ghana from becoming a transit point for international drug trafficking networks.
He criticised the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and National Security for repeatedly allowing international cartels to use Ghana as a transit hub, saying the president has done nothing to stop the problem. The NPP’s demands come amid renewed scrutiny of Ghana’s anti‑narcotics enforcement systems after the arrest of a Syrian national who arrived from Accra with two suitcases containing 46.7 kg of cocaine.
Further action will depend on the government’s response to the NPP’s calls for transparency, accountability and the removal of officials deemed complicit in the trafficking operation.
