NACOC needs more personnel to tackle drug trafficking – Toobu

Ghana needs to significantly increase the number of personnel available to the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) if the country is to effectively respond to the growing sophistication of drug trafficking networks, Vice Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Peter Lanchene Toobu, has said.

The Wa West MP said strengthening the Commission should go beyond providing modern technology and equipment, arguing that adequate manpower and specialised training were equally necessary to enable officers to detect and disrupt narcotics operations across the country.

His call comes amid heightened attention to Ghana’s role in international drug trafficking investigations following the seizure of about 3.9 tonnes of suspected cocaine by French authorities from a container shipped from Ghana.

He said the development should prompt renewed investment in the agencies responsible for combating narcotics trafficking.

“It’s no longer a joking matter. We are being stressed. Police are involved. BNI is involved. NACOC is playing the lead role. But they don’t have the numbers,” Mr Toobu said in an interview with Citi FM on Saturday, September 19, 2026.

He said NACOC’s workforce was below 2,000 and urged the government to recruit and train more personnel for deployment across the country.

“We should get men and recruit more people and train them and deploy them effectively. And they will help us to fight this menace,” he said.

Mr Toobu also called for closer coordination among the security agencies, saying increased manpower should be matched with collaboration and effective deployment.

His comments come against the backdrop of concerns over NACOC’s limited nationwide presence, with the Interior Minister, Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak, telling Parliament in July that the Commission operated in only 66 of Ghana’s 261 districts because of personnel and equipment constraints.

NACOC has meanwhile maintained that its recent operations have been intelligence-led and disclosed that suspects linked to the French cocaine seizure had been under surveillance for between one and two years before their arrest.

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