No high-profile prosecutions despite major drug seizures – Ntim Fordjour

Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has raised serious concerns over what he describes as the lack of high-profile arrests and prosecutions following major international drug seizures linked to Ghana.

According to the Assin South MP, Ghana’s security agencies have recorded several significant interceptions, but the alleged masterminds behind the large-scale trafficking operations have largely remained out of the public spotlight.

His comments come days after French authorities seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine, valued at about US$261 million, from a shipment of plastic waste that arrived at the northern French port of Dunkirk from Ghana.

‘Where are the high-profile prosecutions?’

Speaking on the Channel One Newsroom, Rev. Ntim Fordjour questioned why major international seizures have not resulted in the arrest and prosecution of the alleged financiers and organisers behind the shipments.

He argued that the focus should not only be on smaller quantities of drugs intercepted locally, but also on the large consignments allegedly passing through Ghana into international markets.

“The serious concern that every Ghanaian must be concerned about is that when you have the one kilo, three kilo tracks that are busted… that’s the least of our worries. Our worries really lie in the high-profile bust,” he said.

$500m cocaine seizures under scrutiny

The MP cited previous cases involving cocaine seizures worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

He referred to separate operations in Takoradi and around the Cape Coast-Accra Highway, which he said involved approximately US$500 million worth of cocaine.

Ntim Fordjour questioned why those cases had not, in his view, produced prosecutions of the alleged masterminds.

He also pointed to an April 2025 seizure in Australia involving approximately US$208 million worth of methamphetamine, which Australian authorities reportedly traced to a container originating from Ghana.

‘Our image is sinking’

Beyond the criminal justice implications, the MP warned that the repeated international seizures could seriously damage Ghana’s reputation.

He said the country was increasingly being perceived internationally as a territory that tolerates or facilitates drug trafficking.

“Our image in the international community is fast sinking. We are fast being perceived as a cocaine coast,” he warned.

He argued that Ghana cannot afford to allow its international reputation to deteriorate while large consignments of narcotics allegedly linked to the country continue to be intercepted abroad.

Latest Dunkirk seizure raises fresh questions

The latest French seizure has added urgency to the debate.

Nearly four tonnes of cocaine were reportedly concealed in a container carrying plastic waste from Ghana. French authorities have launched an investigation into the criminal network behind the shipment, with part of the consignment reportedly destined for Antwerp, Belgium.

The seizure has raised fresh questions about how such a massive quantity of narcotics could be concealed in commercial cargo and moved across international borders.

However, the origin of a shipment does not by itself establish wrongdoing by Ghanaian authorities, businesses or citizens. The ongoing investigations will have to determine who organised and financed the shipment and who was intended to receive the drugs.

Fordjour demands answers

Ntim Fordjour said the responsibility for tackling transnational drug trafficking cannot rest with one institution alone.

He identified agencies including the Narcotics Control Commission, Ghana Immigration Service, Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority and other security agencies as key parts of the country’s border-security architecture.

According to him, the repeated international seizures point to the need for a broader examination of Ghana’s systems for detecting and disrupting organised drug trafficking.

Focus on the masterminds

For the MP, the real test of Ghana’s anti-narcotics campaign is not simply how much cocaine or methamphetamine authorities seize.

It is whether investigators can identify the people financing, organising and facilitating the shipments and bring them before the courts.

He has therefore called for greater accountability and intensified investigations into the networks behind the major international drug seizures.

As Ghana faces growing scrutiny following the latest multimillion-dollar cocaine interception in France, Ntim Fordjour’s warning has put the spotlight firmly on a question that authorities will now have to answer:

Where are the high-profile prosecutions?