The writer
Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws.
It has not been long since the Ghana Consulate in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) expressed concern about a sudden increase in the number of Ghanaians attempting to smuggle narcotic substances into Dubai, which led to the arrest of five people. According to the Consulate, five Ghanaians were arrested at the Dubai International Airport for drug trafficking between January 2021 and March 2021.
Meanwhile, there has also been cases of narcotic drugs trafficking in our country. The situation has assumed an alarming proportion such that Ghana has attracted a lot of strident international condemnation and opprobrium in our foreign relations and dealings with our major trading partners. This is having a negative impact on the economy. Our country has become a transshipment point and conduit for the trafficking of narcotic substances such as cocaine
Organised crime
The Kotoka International Airport is increasingly becoming a focus for barons. The ports of Tema, Secondi /Takoradi and the border posts at Aflao, Elubo and Sampaare are also used in this regard. In recent times, South American cocaine trafficking rings increased their foothold in Ghana, establishing well-developed distribution networks run by some Nigerian and Ghanaian criminals.
This was successful because Ghana’s interest in attracting investment provides good cover for foreign drug barons who enter the country under the guise of doing legitimate business. Drug trafficking is a threat to national security and stability and can impede the development of a country. It is, therefore, important to wage a gigantic frontal assault through co-ordinated efforts in addressing the menace.
In the first place, total confiscation of the property and finances of illegal drug traffickers should be considered. Tougher confiscation provisions with a portion of such resources dedicated to fighting narcotic trafficking would strengthen Ghana’s counter narcotics regime. Better oversight of financial transactions is particularly important given the potential for any narcotic financial networks to be used by terrorist organisations or for internal corruption.
Additionally, the narcotic drug scourge can be prevented through effective due diligence and thorough background checks and double checking should be done on all investors both potential and those already established whose operations look dubious to ensure that criminals are not allowed in to launder their illegal proceeds for investments in banks, hospitality industries, fishing industries and other business ventures in the country.
There is also the need for new laws or legislation to be drafted and existing ones reviewed to strengthen the Judiciary in making the narcotics trade unattractive to the lords, barons and the couriers.
Sustained public education
It is pertinent to note that, individuals in the society, communities, neighborhoods who are of or have credible information about those who engage in the narcotics trade should be encouraged through sustained public education campaigns to take advantage of the protection granted under the yet to be passed Whistle Blowers’ Bill to give out information to responsible members of the Boards, Commissions, Task Force and undercover organisations. The services of informants should thus be procured to provide vital information that must be refined to produce the needed intelligence to feed the combating agencies.
Another way of dealing with the drug menace is that, there should be an educational line of operation which must be geared towards a sustained public education of the consequences of the actions of those inexperienced individuals who due to greed and naivety, are dispatched as couriers by swallowing, or on their own carry drugs in their luggage.
Furthermore, Security personnel at our ports of entry and exist should be adequately trained, well-resourced with need logistics and entreated to be particularly professional in the performance of their duties to ensure that there are no slippages and do not sacrifice the national interest for their parochial and selfish gains.
Lastly, long custodial sentences should be given to drug barons and couriers to serve as deterrent to others. This will help to break the command chain and their various networks. They can also not launder their illegal financial resources to threaten the security and stability of the country. Drug trafficking should be tackled effectively, seriously and with a sense of urgency
It is, therefore, my hope that if these measures are vigorously pursued it will go a long way to minimize the drug menace. At the same time a congenial atmosphere will be created in the country for foreign direct investment to promote sustainable socio-economic development.
Let’s all well-meaning Ghanaians join hands with the security agencies to prevent drug barons from using the territories of Ghana as a conduit for the trafficking of narcotic substances. This will safeguard the goodwill of the country in the eyes of the international community; attract foreign investment for accelerated socio-economic development so that the prospects for future generations will not increasingly become grim.
The author is a student of the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).
cdorejunior62@gmail.com
