Ranking Member on Parliament’s Committee on Defence and Interior, Rev John Ntim
The Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, Rev John Ntim Fordjour, has called on the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) to clarify the status of prosecutions for major cocaine busts earlier this year, following NACOC’s latest seizure on April 24, 2025.
In a post on his social media pages on Friday, April 25, 2025, the Assin South Member of Parliament sought clarity on the status of previous busts, while raising concerns over the lack of updates.
According to him, while the agencies have been quick to provide updates on relatively small busts, there has yet to be any significant attempt to arrest and prosecute individuals behind major busts estimated to be valued at $350 million and $150 million, respectively.
“How far with the prosecution of the half-a-billion-dollar cocaine busts? Now, we hear commendable commitment from NACOC towards making our ports a no-go zone for drug trafficking. The question to NACOC and NIB is: what happened to the prosecution of traffickers of big busts totaling half a billion dollars earlier this year? There’s a good update on the prosecution of small busts of 89.74 kg. When will the prosecution of suspects in the big busts of $350 million and $150 million begin? When will armed operatives storm their houses to arrest them for prosecution?” he questioned.
NACOC announced on Thursday that it had intercepted 73 slabs of suspected cocaine weighing 89.74 kilograms at Swiss Port, bound for the Netherlands, marking another multimillion-dollar bust.
Fordjour noted the public’s interest in fighting drug trafficking and emphasised the need for all drug busts to be addressed with equal measure, without any attempt to shield culpable persons.
“We are all concerned and collectively support the call for zero tolerance for drug trafficking and, therefore, demand that big busts not be shielded while small busts are showcased. Big busts must be prosecuted with the same alacrity as the small busts,” he stated.
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