Egyapa Mercer demands parliamentary probe into Ghana-linked cocaine seizures
Former Member of Parliament for Sekondi and former Minister for Tourism, Arts and Culture, Andrew Egyapa Mercer
Former Sekondi MP Andrew Egyapa Mercer has called for a bipartisan parliamentary investigation into cocaine seizures linked to Ghana since January 2025, questioning how the consignments were able to leave the country and raising concerns about conflicting accounts of the latest interception in Lebanon.
He has also given the government seven days to publish the roadmap of its anti-drug trafficking task force, which was expected to be released on October 1.
Mr Mercer wants President John Dramani Mahama to engage Lebanese authorities and issue a joint statement clarifying whether the Beirut operation was a Ghana-led controlled delivery and when Ghanaian security agencies were first notified.
The calls follow the arrest of a Syrian passenger at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, where Lebanese authorities reportedly seized 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine from his luggage. Lebanese Customs has described the interception as the largest drug seizure in the airport's history.
Speaking on Citi FM on Wednesday, November 4, Mr Mercer said the explanation provided by Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) appeared to differ from the account attributed to Lebanese authorities.
“Our demands are really simple. He should constitute a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry and hold public hearings into every Ghana-linked cocaine seizure recorded since January 2025, from Amsterdam to Beirut. We are also calling on him to publish the task force roadmap, which was due on October 1, within seven days,” he said.
He added that the President should issue a joint statement with Lebanese authorities, including the country’s Internal Security Forces, to establish whether Ghana played a leading role in a controlled delivery operation and when local agencies became aware of the case.
“If you listen to the narrative from the Lebanese authorities and you relate it to what NACOC is telling us, clearly there’s a disconnect,” he said.
Mr Mercer also questioned the absence of announced arrests in Ghana days after the Beirut interception, particularly given reports that NACOC had knowledge of the suspect’s movements and whereabouts while he was in the country. He argued that if Ghanaian agencies had participated in a controlled delivery operation, they should also be able to identify people the suspect had interacted with locally.
“Clearly, clearly we are being gaslighted,” he added.
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