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Ghana: War Against Drug Deals Derailed
This from allAfrica.com (originally from Ghanaian Chronicle - Accra):
Ghana: War Against Drug Deals Derailed
Goerge Kyei Frimpong
Accra
The crack force mobilised against narcotic peddlers, Operation Westbridge, instituted by the British Government in response to an SOS by the Government of Ghana, is faces the threat of collapsing with the real possibility of the country being overrun by drug dealers.
Available reports on the Westbridge operation gathered by Ghana have revealed that the operation has not been able to discourage drug barons to back off from using Ghana as a major transit point for the illicit trade.
The fear is that, considering the quantity of narcotics that are being brought into Ghana, the country would be forced to be a consuming country since the security systems would not allow the barons to be successful in shipping to the final destinations which include North America and Europe.
From November 26, last year when the operations began to September 22, this year, 2, 283 kilogrammes (about 2,300Kilogrammes) of narcotics exported through the Kotoka International Airport was intercepted in the United Kingdom alone. Sources said the street value for the 2,300Kg was £114,142,000 (˘19trillion). Among the 2,300Kg of drugs intercepted in UK, 150Kg was cocaine, while 2,133Kg was cannabis. In Ghana, within the same period, 262kg of drugs at KIA, consisting of 187 cocaine and 58 of cannabis were seized by the security agencies. The mode of concealment include swallowing, body packed, in the base of suitcases, wooden drums, herbal teas, tins of foods, cabin luggage, DHL parcels, cargoes, EMS parcels, courier mails, clothing and in perishable vegetables.
On two occasions this year, cannabis and cocaine, weighing 49Kg were found concealed under the seats of two air lines, the Dutch-owned KLM and the British Airways. In all, 2540Kg of drugs were intercepted. The street value was £127,000,000 (˘22trillion)
The people arrested included 24 Ghanaians, 6 Nigerians, 3 Britons, 3 Dutch, 1 German, 1 French, 1 Kenyan, 1 Romanian and 1 New Zealand. When The Chronicle finally reached the British High Commission, which undertakes networking for British agents in Ghana, the Second Secretary in Charge of Political, Press and Public Affairs, Mr. Gary Nicholls, diplomatically spoke, complimenting the Ghanaian government for her support in the exercise which had lasted two years. He was however quick to stress that they were here because of President Kufuor's seriousness in the war against drugs, noting that this was the only project of the sort in the whole of West Africa and that they intended to make Ghana a role model for all the countries because the political will was there.
Nicholls, however, warned that the more drugs came into Ghana, the more likely it would be consumed here, observing that the price of cocaine in Ghana had shot up from $10,000 per kilo to between $15000-18,000 per Kilo. "When the price increases, that shows that there is a market growing in the country. When the price is cheaper, it indicates that people don't want them, and as the price falls, that is when you start making money by selling it in the country," he indicated.
He continued that "Now, with the volume of drugs coming in, the more they come in the more they will be available for the local market, and as demand increases, price increases and as supply increases, criminal activities increase."
Nicholls contended that the barons would not risk transporting the drugs brought to Ghana to the final destinations if it would be consumed in Ghana.
"That is not happening now because the market is still in Europe, but the more it comes here, the more demand grows; the more money that comes into Ghana, crime rises and this will become a market. That is in the medium to long-term," he emphasised.
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04-10-2007, 13:19
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