The Jatikay Centre, an NGO that advocates for human security and peacebuilding, has called for heads to roll within Ghana’s security agencies following the seizure of 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine transported from Accra to Lebanon, questioning how such a large consignment was able to leave the country.
The demand follows the arrest of a Syrian national at Lebanon’s Rafic Hariri International Airport with the cocaine, in what the Centre described as the largest drug seizure in the airport’s history.
In a statement issued on Monday, November 2, 2026, the Centre’s Executive Director, Adib Saani, said the incident was a major embarrassment to Ghana and raised serious questions about the effectiveness of the country’s narcotics enforcement and national security systems.
The Centre also challenged the Narcotics Control Commission’s (NACOC) explanation that the arrest resulted from a coordinated controlled delivery operation with Lebanese authorities.
Mr Saani said the explanation was unsatisfactory and demanded evidence to establish the extent of Ghana’s involvement in the operation.
“If NACOC knew about the cocaine shipment, why was the suspect allowed to depart Accra International Airport with such a substantial quantity of narcotics?” he asked.
He also questioned when the cocaine was detected, what safeguards were put in place during the alleged controlled delivery operation, and what evidence supported NACOC’s claim of collaboration with Lebanese authorities.
The Centre further asked why the initial statement by Lebanese authorities reportedly credited their Customs and General Security agencies without explicitly acknowledging Ghana’s involvement.
It also demanded clarification on whether the operation qualified as a controlled delivery, given that the suspect was arrested at the airport in Lebanon, and whether any accomplices who may have facilitated the movement of the drugs in Ghana had been arrested.
Mr Saani raised concerns about a discrepancy in the quantities reported by the two authorities, saying NACOC cited approximately 40 kilogrammes while Lebanese authorities reported 46.7 kilogrammes.
He warned that the incident could further damage Ghana’s international reputation as a transit point for drug trafficking if questions about the movement of narcotics through the country remained unanswered.
“Controlled deliveries are legitimate law enforcement techniques. However, invoking the term should not become a convenient excuse for operational failures,” he said.
The Centre called for decisive action against any officials found to have failed in their duties, insisting that the country could not continue to experience major drug interceptions abroad involving consignments that had departed from Ghana.
