The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has sent a strong warning to drug peddlers, following the destruction of more than GH¢12 million worth of seized narcotics at Bundase.
In what officials describe as an unusually large haul for such a short period, the Commission says the operation is proof of its renewed crackdown on the drug trade and a clear message that traffickers will be pursued relentlessly.
Thirteen million cedis up in flames. Not cash, but illicit drugs. The Narcotics Control Commission’s renewed crackdown on the drug trade is yielding results.
At Bundase, a military training camp, the Commission destroyed yet another massive haul, all seized within just the last two months.
That’s unusually fast, as such large stockpiles are typically gathered over a much longer period.
Brigadier-General Maxwell Obuba Mantey, Director-General of NACOC, revealed that tramadol made up the bulk of the torched substances. A huge consignment of the capsules was intercepted in a 40-foot container at the Tema Port.
“Worth about 11.8 million Ghana cedis, mainly dominated, which is about 50 percent of what we destroyed.”
The illicit drugs included 6,513 kg of cannabis valued at GH¢651,300, 1.5 kg of cocaine worth $13,500, and nearly 6 million capsules of tramadol, ecstasy, and other substances valued at GH¢11.8 million.
Before the drugs were set ablaze, the Ghana Standards Authority tested them on site.
Concerns have emerged about why such busts are not redirected to the pharmaceutical industry. But Brigadier-General Mantey explained that NACOC has no mandate to decide how seized narcotics are used.
“We are implementers of policy, and so we don’t dictate how the products that we see should be used. Once the laws change and we have to hand them over for industry to use, we will do that. But so long as that has not changed, we will destroy them as and when. And we do so with a court order.”
The Commission sent a strong warning to drug peddlers, urging other agencies to step up their support in the fight.
“For them, nothing, but just let them know that our antennas are very high and we are closing in on most of them. When we get them, they will regret it. That’s why we call on traditional leaders, religious leaders, and everybody in this country to help because it’s causing a lot of damage, especially to the young ones.
“We go to the secondary school, the universities; it’s so disappointing, to say the least, 13 million burnt today. But NACOC is hoping to destroy more. They have vowed to keep up the momentum.
Source: Michael Asharley
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