NACOC: We’ve found no presidential escort among suspects in €225m France cocaine case

The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says preliminary checks have found no evidence that any of the suspects in its custody over the €225 million cocaine seizure in France is a presidential escort.

The clarification follows a claim by New Tafo MP Vincent Ekow Assafuah that one of the suspects, Musah Atta, was allegedly part of the security detail of President John Dramani Mahama and the Vice President.

In a Facebook post on Friday, September 18, Mr Assafuah questioned how a person allegedly linked to the presidential security detail could be involved in a cocaine trafficking case of such magnitude.

NACOC Deputy Director-General Alexander Twum-Barimah, however, said background checks conducted on the suspects in the Commission’s custody had not established that any of them was a presidential bodyguard.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3 on Sunday, September 20, he said NACOC had checked the backgrounds of all suspects currently in its custody.

“From the background checks we have done, I don’t have any Presidential bodyguard. President John Dramani Mahama’s bodyguard? Then he has to come clear and explain to us his job description and everything,” he said.

“We have checked all the people that we have in custody, their backgrounds are known to us, and we don’t have any of them who is a Presidential escort,” he stressed.

Mr Twum-Barimah said NACOC could not independently confirm Mr Assafuah’s claim without further information about the alleged security role of Musah Atta.

“If there’s anything that they can give further and better particulars to, it will even help our investigations. But as I sit here I don’t have that, so I cannot confirm whatever Assafuah is saying,” he said.

He also disputed the suggestion that one officer could simultaneously serve as a close escort to both the President and Vice President.

“I am a trained protection escort. I was trained in South Africa as a personal bodyguard to the President, even though I don’t use it. No, under no circumstance would you be allowed to be a close escort to the President and also be a close escort to the Vice President; it is not done that way.”

“You must be at one wing, and each wing you have enough numbers to run. So, you will not find a close escort who will be running a dual role with the two VIPs. So, that alone defeats the argument they are raising,” he added.

The development follows major cocaine seizures linked to Ghana, including the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine by French customs authorities from a container shipped from Ghana.

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