A civil society organisation, the Centre for Democratic Movement (CDM), is pushing for a parliamentary investigation into a series of major international drug busts linked to Ghana. The group warns that the country's reputation, exporters, and travellers risk being tainted if the pattern continues. CDM's call for scrutiny follows a massive seizure at the Port of Dunkirk in France, where customs officers intercepted nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine hidden inside a container of plastic waste shipped from Ghana.
The seizure, which occurred on 7 September 2026, is valued at roughly €225 million. According to CDM, this incident is not an isolated case, but rather part of a broader run of narcotics cases connected to Ghana stretching back to 2025. The group has urged Speaker Alban Bagbin to convene an emergency sitting of Parliament and set up a bipartisan committee of inquiry to examine the 2018 decision that removed the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) from routine physical inspections of containers passing through Ghana's ports.
CDM's concerns are centred on the potential fallout if Ghana becomes more closely associated with international trafficking. The group cautions that legitimate Ghanaian exporters and ordinary travellers could face heightened suspicion, extra checks, or reputational damage abroad simply because of where their goods or passports originate. The organisation is pushing for a bipartisan committee to investigate the clearance procedures that allowed suspect cargo to leave the country undetected.
The Dunkirk seizure is the latest thread in a broader story that has been building for months. Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission had already opened its own investigation into a separate case, a 320-kilogram methamphetamine seizure linked to Ghana that surfaced in Australia in June 2026. More recently, in September 2026, NACOC arrested three suspects connected to the so-called 'Bolle Jos' trafficking network operating out of the Netherlands.
The Dunkirk case has also crossed over into Ghana's entertainment and social media space. East Legon spa owner Jessica Hartog and her fiancé, known as Biggs, were arraigned in connection with the €225 million bust, and old footage of the couple's lifestyle has since resurfaced online, drawing heavy public criticism as Ghanaians debate the couple's alleged links to the seizure.
President John Mahama has already taken steps to address part of the problem CDM is raising. He directed NACOC to resume joint physical inspections of containers alongside other agencies and gave security services two weeks to align their operations. This directive followed questions raised by IMANI's Franklin Cudjoe, who had publicly asked why Mahama kept meeting the same set of officials over the cocaine saga without apparent progress.
CDM's request for an emergency parliamentary sitting and a bipartisan inquiry committee has not yet been acted on, and it is unclear whether Speaker Bagbin or Parliament's leadership has responded. The two-week window Mahama gave security agencies to harmonise their inspection operations is the only concrete deadline mentioned so far.
Key points
- The Centre for Democratic Movement is pushing for a parliamentary inquiry into a string of narcotics seizures tied to Ghana.
- A massive seizure of 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the Port of Dunkirk in France has sparked concerns about Ghana's reputation.
- President John Mahama has directed NACOC to resume joint physical inspections of containers alongside other agencies.
