New photographs have emerged showing Musah Attah, alias "Kromo", a suspect in the €225 million cocaine bust in France, alongside President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang. The images, circulating widely, appear to show Attah at both official functions and social gatherings with the President and Vice President. One photograph shows Attah cutting a cake alongside the Vice President at what looks like a birthday or other celebratory event.
The controversy began with claims made by New Tafo Member of Parliament Vincent Ekow Assafuah that Attah was part of the security team assigned to the President and Vice President. However, the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) denied the allegation, stating that background checks on all suspects in custody had not identified any of them as a presidential escort. NACOC's Deputy Director-General, Alexander Twum-Barimah, said that if a presidential bodyguard was implicated, they needed to come forward and clarify their job description.
The freshly circulated photographs challenge NACOC's denial, though they do not establish whether Attah held a formal security appointment within the Presidency. Attah is one of four Ghanaians facing charges over the alleged exportation of nearly four tonnes of cocaine from Ghana to France. The others named in court documents are Desmond Koranteng Curiel, Kweku Otchere, and Jessica Hartog. All four were arraigned before the High Court in Accra on September 16, 2026.
According to earlier reporting on the arrests, Curiel and Hartog were picked up at Ashaley Botwe on September 12, 2026, while Otchere was arrested the same day at his East Legon residence. Investigators reportedly recovered three firearms, ammunition, four luxury vehicles, passports, and undisclosed sums of money from Otchere's residence. Attah himself was arrested two days later, on September 14, 2026, at NACOC's own headquarters.
The scandal has drawn commentary from various quarters, including Catholic bishops who described the bust as a moral crisis for the country. A lecturer at the University of Professional Studies, Accra, urged that President Mahama should be concerned about Ghana-linked drug busts abroad. A Member of Parliament argued that NACOC is too thin on the ground to stop traffickers, pointing to staffing and resource gaps at the agency.
The Narcotics Control Commission is Ghana's lead statutory body responsible for detecting, investigating, and prosecuting drug trafficking offences. Public confidence in the agency's account is central to how Ghanaians assess whether individuals linked to major drug seizures had access to the highest levels of the state. The emergence of photographs placing a bust suspect at events with the President and Vice President raises questions about vetting processes around state functions.
The four accused are due back before the High Court in Accra on October 13, 2026. No further government statement addressing the newly circulated photographs has been reported, and NACOC has not issued a fresh response since the images emerged. The case has significant implications for Ghana's efforts to combat drug trafficking and the credibility of its law enforcement agencies.
Key points
- The photographs appear to show Musah Attah, a suspect in the €225 million cocaine bust, alongside President John Dramani Mahama and Vice President Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
- NACOC had denied that any suspect in the cocaine bust had ties to the presidential security detail.
- The case has significant implications for Ghana's efforts to combat drug trafficking and the credibility of its law enforcement agencies.
