Cocaine busted in Tema * Woman, 3 others picked

Front Page: Daily Graphic, May 21, 2009.
Story: Albert K. Salia (Accra) & Rose Hayford Darko (Tema)
A 40-foot container with 61 parcels of a substance suspected to be cocaine was intercepted at the Tema Port on Tuesday.
The parcels, with a total weight of 71.45 kilogrammes, were said to have been concealed in cargo which had been declared as chewing gum from Ecuador in South America.
The container, consigned to Augustina Abu of Abu Augustina Enterprise, was intercepted after it had gone through the scan at the port.
The Daily Graphic was told on arrival at the port that the container, together with the exhibits, had been taken to Accra for investigations to commence.
A source at the port said the container was among the cargo on board a vessel which had docked at the port on May 3, 2009.
It said based on intelligence reports, surveillance was mounted on it until Tuesday when it was checked to undergo scanning.
According to the source, the scan indicated that there were some irregular goods in the container and a team of security personnel which was following closely at the checkpoint called for a thorough search of the cargo.
It said two travelling bags which looked different from the chewing gum containers were found during the search. The substances were discovered during an examination.
The Tema Regional Police Commander, Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr John Kudalor, confirmed the incident but gave no further details.
Officials in Accra, however, told the Daily Graphic that the consignee, Augustina, reported to the police later in the day while three suspects, including two clearing agents and a driver, were assisting the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) in investigations.
The suspects in custody have been identified as Kennedy Osei, Simon Fafa Bedy, both of Seko Clearing Agency in Tema, and Francis Abbey, the driver of the truck, with registration number GR 9241 A, which was to cart the container from the port.
The Executive Secretary of NACOB, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Robert Ayalingo, told newsmen yesterday that the interception of the drugs followed weeks of surveillance and profiling by the Joint Port Control Unit under NACOB.
He explained that after the profiling, personnel of the unit, comprising personnel from NACOB, CEPS, BNI and the police, decided to tag it for thorough investigations.
ACP Ayalingo said the 61 parcels were concealed in two travelling bags and placed at the entrance of the container, which he explained was to facilitate “easy hand-picking” before any searches.
He said field tests on the samples proved positive for cocaine, leading to the arrest of the suspects.
He said the interception only confirmed positive measures that had been put in place to deal with the drug menace and prevent the drug from getting to the streets.
He, however, said the method of concealment had become so sophisticated that the government needed to provide more equipment, especially itemisers, at all the points of entry.
ACP Ayalingo justified the need for the equipment at all points of entry because the 588 parcels of cocaine that were intercepted at Nsawam last year came through the Paga border.
Commenting on the interception, a security expert, Dr Kwesi Aning, said the seizure “shows the dangerous nature of the challenge that we are facing, namely, that drug lords and leaders apply both business and warfare tactics to undermine, lull and eventually deliver the blow that destroys their opponents”.
He said the government’s consistent rhetoric about curbing the drug menace in Ghana and making this country an unattractive narcotics highway and transit point to Europe had seriously sent shock waves around the globe.
He explained that the response of the drug lords had been what was expected and based on their rational choices and calculations as to what government’s real intentions were.
“What is important is to understand the variables that go into the calculations of drug lords. And, in this case, their calculus is that African governments make noise and pull back from the brink. Secondly, that they will test the government to see its seriousness and, therefore, what happened in Tema is reflective of this 'testing of the waters' or government’s resolve. This is a victory for Ghana because this ship has been on the high seas for just about two weeks or less and, therefore, the rationale was to see if the defences could be breached,” he stated.
Dr Aning, however, advised the government to back its rhetoric with operational support for all the agencies mandated to respond to that threat.
“This is because while the government works and thinks in four and eight-year cycles, drug lords work and think in 20 and 30-year cycles, infiltrating their agents into important sectors. This will be a long, difficult, dangerous and uphill task for the government,” he added.