Our drug enforcement system is too fragmented – Dr Norman flags dangerous gaps in security architecture

Security Consultant Dr Ishmael Norman has warned that Ghana’s drug enforcement system is too fragmented to effectively confront the growing threat of cocaine and methamphetamine trafficking.

He said the latest seizures should force a review of the country’s security architecture and how agencies responsible for drug enforcement work together.

His comments follow Ghana’s latest cocaine busts and growing concerns over the volume of narcotics passing through the country.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Dr Norman said Ghana must stop treating drug trafficking as an occasional emergency.

“I think the approach to drug enforcement in Ghana is that we look at it as an occasional emergency, rather than an existential threat to us.”

He said the involvement of large quantities of narcotics points to weaknesses across several institutions.

“And so, for this kind of quantum of drugs — methamphetamine, cocaine — to be exported through our country tells us that all the security agencies—and I’m talking, it is not one agency that is responsible for drug enforcement.”

Dr Norman said the country must examine the institutional arrangements governing agencies such as NACCOC, the FDA, the Ghana Standards Board, Customs, and National Security.

“And so we need to take a look at the security architecture, the system, the institutional layout of all of them, because it’s too fragmented, and when it comes to examination, mandatory presence of very key agencies, sometimes they are missing.”

He said key agencies should be involved as part of a standard inspection protocol, rather than being called only after Customs discovers something suspicious.

“It is only when maybe Customs goes in and does an inspection, and they see they suspect that there’s something there, that they call NACCOC. That shouldn’t be the case. It should be a standard protocol for them to get involved.”

Dr Norman also raised concerns about staffing, investigative skills and resources within the institutions.

“NACCOC lacks a lot of skills in terms of even an investigation room; they don’t have one. They don’t even have enough vehicles to do their job.”

He said Customs also faced infrastructure challenges and questioned responsibility for the chain of custody of containers.

“And when it comes to chain of custody of a lot of the containers, who is responsible for the containers? We don’t know who is really in charge.”

He further questioned Ghana’s capacity to physically inspect containers, particularly given the limitations around scanning.

“It’s less than 15% when it comes to the physical inspection of the containers.”

Dr Norman warned that weaknesses within the system could be exploited by sophisticated drug networks.

“So, you see, the drug dealers, they are very organised. They are sophisticated. They are listening to this program as we are talking.”

He said the criminals study weaknesses within the institutions tasked with stopping drug trafficking.

“They learn from the weaknesses of the institutions charged with the responsibility to stop and fight the drug menace in this country, and spoiling the image of Ghana.”

According to him, the implications extend beyond individual drug seizures.

“The brand Ghana is now being associated with drug trafficking, which shouldn’t be the case.”

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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.