The Majority Caucus in Ghana's Parliament has emphasized the need for strengthened collaboration among security and law enforcement agencies to combat the growing threat of narcotics trafficking in the country. According to the caucus, the fight against narcotics is not the responsibility of a single agency, particularly the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), but requires sustained collaboration among all relevant institutions. This, they believe, will enable Ghana to disrupt and dismantle networks that traffic narcotics effectively.
Addressing the press on the drug situation in Ghana at Parliament, the Majority Leader, James Agalga, stressed that continued and concerted inter-agency cooperation was essential to the country's fight against the drug menace. He urged the NACOC, the Ghana Police Service, the Ghana Immigration Service, the Ports and Harbours Authority, and others to increase their cooperation, emphasizing that this was no job for any single agency. The Majority Leader noted that NACOC had, for years, been under-resourced, under-staffed, and under-institutionalized, making it difficult for the commission to effectively respond to the growing, sophisticated, and adaptable narcotics trade.
Mr. Agalga revealed that in 2018, Ghana decided that NACOC would no longer be subject to mandatory joint inspection at Tema Port, a decision he described as having broken a critical link in the profiling, screening, and interdiction chain. He noted that the narcotics-risk intervention was not fully implemented in Tema, and the institution responsible for safeguarding the country against narcotics trafficking was excluded from a process designed for that purpose. This, he argued, left NACOC without the necessary tools to effectively monitor and control the flow of narcotics through the country's busiest port.
The Majority Leader also highlighted the lack of a dedicated court to deal with narcotics-related offences in Ghana. He noted that narcotics cases were assigned to the regular criminal calendar, where they competed with other cases for judicial attention, resulting in a growing backlog of drug-related cases. This situation, he argued, resulted in suspects, some guilty and others presumed innocent, languishing in limbo, while prosecutions dragged on and the punitive effects of narcotics laws diminished slowly with time.
However, Mr. Agalga noted that the current administration had set up a special court for the trial of narcotics offences, a move he described as a significant step towards addressing the backlog of pending narcotics cases. He expressed optimism that this development would enable the systematic eradication of the backlog, ensure timely prosecution, and restore the credibility of Ghana's narcotics laws. Additionally, the government had approved the recruitment of 2,200 staff for NACOC, a move that would fill the deficit in the commission's staffing and enhance its operational capacity.
According to Mr. Agalga, NACOC recorded significant successes in its enforcement operations in 2024 and 2025. In 2024, the commission recorded 73 arrests nationwide, its most productive enforcement year on record. In 2025, NACOC enforcement operations produced 217 arrests across 165 cases, an increase of 197 per cent over the largest annual enforcement increase in the commission's history. The seizures of narcotic substances in 2025 totalled 1,497.75 kilogrammes, with an estimated street value of $5.244 million and an estimated 61,974 units of controlled substances.
The Majority Leader highlighted that the growth in enforcement was matched by growth in results across the board. In 2025, asset-based enforcement resulted in cash seizures of GH¢6.93 million and $440,382, and the seizure of 19.72 kilogrammes of gold believed to be used for suspected drug-money laundering. A total of 32,122.42 kilogrammes of narcotics were destroyed permanently, including over five million tablets of tramadol. The Majority Caucus is optimistic that with enhanced collaboration and the implementation of these measures, Ghana can effectively combat the growing threat of narcotics trafficking.
Key points
- The Majority Caucus in Ghana's Parliament has called for strengthened collaboration among security agencies to combat the growing threat of narcotics trafficking in the country.
- The lack of a dedicated court to deal with narcotics-related offences and under-resourced NACOC have hindered efforts to combat narcotics trafficking in Ghana.
- NACOC recorded 217 arrests across 165 cases in 2025, with seizures of narcotic substances totalling 1,497.75 kilogrammes, with an estimated street value of $5.244 million.
