The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says it monitored a Syrian national suspected of trafficking approximately 40 kilogrammes of cocaine from Ghana before allowing him to travel to Lebanon as part of an operation targeting a wider international drug network.
The Commission’s Head of Public Relations, Francis Amoah, explained that the decision was informed by an investigative technique known as controlled delivery, which allows law enforcement agencies to track suspected drug consignments across borders to identify and arrest other members of trafficking networks.
His comments follow the arrest of the Syrian national at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, on Saturday, October 31, after he arrived from Accra with the suspected cocaine concealed in two pieces of luggage.
Mr Amoah said NACOC had monitored the suspect throughout his stay in Ghana and had information about his movements, including his arrival in the country, hotel accommodation and departure.
He acknowledged concerns surrounding the fact that the suspect travelled through the Kotoka International Airport but explained that the operation was part of efforts to pursue not only individual suspects but also their associates in international drug trafficking networks.
“It is a transnational organised crime, and one country does not have all the requisite logistics to be able to fight and fight it well,” he said
Explaining the controlled delivery approach, Mr Amoah said the strategy involves allowing a suspected trafficker and the consignment to reach another jurisdiction so that authorities can apprehend the individual and other members of the network.
“One thing that we do as far as our work is concerned is what we call the controlled delivery. Controlled delivery is where you know about the person, what the person is carrying, but you want the person to go to the other side because when the person gets to the other side, the person, not him alone but the network associated with him, will be arrested,” he explained.
