IMANI Africa founding president Franklin Cudjoe has called for a shift from partisan politics to intelligence-led strategies in Ghana’s fight against cocaine trafficking, arguing that the threat is driven by international organised criminal networks.
In a commentary shared on his behalf, Cudjoe said the recent cocaine trafficking cases should be treated as a systemic security challenge rather than solely as a political failure.
He said the focus should extend beyond how narcotics leave Ghana to investigating how the drugs enter the country in the first place.
“Undoubtedly Ghana is a transit. And transit means a corridor; in and out. The ‘in’ is equally very important as the ‘out’,” he stated.
According to him, the organised networks behind the trade operate across multiple jurisdictions and exploit weaknesses in Ghana’s security and logistics systems.
“The politics will go but the system remains because of the ‘organised crime’,” he said, stressing the need to identify and close the various loopholes exploited by traffickers.
Cudjoe also disputed suggestions that cocaine seizures automatically meant Ghana was becoming a “cocaine coast”, arguing that successful interceptions should instead be viewed as evidence of enforcement efforts.
He said the appropriate response was to study every seizure, including cocaine intercepted in other countries, for intelligence that could help Ghana identify vulnerabilities in its own supply chain.
“Like Swiss cheese, you plug the holes it went through. Gradually, gradually the holes will cease to open,” he said.
Calls for stronger port intelligence
Cudjoe proposed a number of measures to strengthen surveillance at Ghana’s ports and airports.
He called for the Ghanaian authorities to examine the activities of people who operate around ports and airports without necessarily travelling, suggesting that some may be involved in facilitating illicit activities.
He also questioned the deployment of visibly uniformed Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) personnel at ports, arguing that narcotics enforcement required greater emphasis on intelligence and undercover operations.
“NACOC is intelligence. Not footsoldiers,” he stated, while calling for a review of the Commission’s visible presence at sensitive entry and exit points.
Cudjoe further proposed that all security personnel operating at ports, whether on duty or off duty, should be electronically logged, with their movements or presence recorded and linked to their respective headquarters.
“Every service personnel duty or off duty should clock. And that clock should trigger at their headquarters,” he suggested.
Profile high-risk networks
The IMANI Africa founder also urged security agencies to intensify intelligence gathering within affluent communities, which he alleged could be used to conceal narcotics.
He proposed the use of Ghana Card-related information and other intelligence tools to profile networks and identify individuals connected to suspicious activities.
He maintained that the fight against cocaine trafficking should focus on dismantling the entire supply chain rather than concentrating primarily on political parties.
“Focusing on the political parties only goes to benefit the ‘organised criminals’,” he said.
Cudjoe further warned that the trafficking threat could resurface around future election periods, when political activity, holidays and changes in government could create vulnerabilities in security operations.
He therefore urged authorities to strengthen systems and intelligence gathering regardless of which political party is in power.
“It has nothing to do with NPP, NDC, UP, IMANI etc. It is organised crime,” he stated.
Story By: Eric Boateng
