NACOC seizes drugs at Kotoka International Airport

• Posted on May 18, 2022May 18, 2022
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Officers of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) have intercepted substances suspected to be narcotics in separate operations in Accra and Woe in the Volta Region.

The first interception was made at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA), where a 46-year-old woman who was travelling with a whitish substance suspected to be cocaine on her was arrested.

The other was the seizure of 162 sacks of dried leaves suspected to be cannabis, after NACOC officers had raided a stash house at Woe, a town near Keta in the Anlo District in the Volta Region.

Cocaine at KIA

The arrest made at the KIA last Saturday involved a woman identified as Margret Wolo Maikplay, a Liberian, who was transiting through Ghana aboard an Asky Airline and was to fly to Doha-Bangkok via Qatar Airline.

The suspect was picked up as she went through pre-transit formalities after it was detected that she had 30 thumb-size pellets of a whitish substance concealed under her breasts and in her private parts.

According to NACOC officials, the substance intercepted, weighing 0.36kg, tested positive for cocaine after an initial field test on the day of the arrest

Briefing the Daily Graphic on the arrests, the Manager of the Public Affairs and International Relations Department of NACOC, Francis Opoku Amoah, said during an initial interrogation, Ms Maikplay confessed having inserted some substance in her genitals.

“She said she was contacted by one Oratha, a Liberian resident in Monrovia, who sponsored her travelling expenses to Thailand to deliver the drug to an unknown person in Thailand,” Mr Amoah explained.

He also explained that the exhibit would be forwarded to the Ghana Standards Authority for further analytical examination, as part of further investigations, while the suspect would be arraigned.

Illegal

Mr Amoah stressed that trafficking in illicit drugs continued to be illegal in Ghana, and that NACOC remained resolute 1n its mandate and would work with other relevant state agencies to make it unprofitable to deal in drugs.

He further warned that people who were arrested for breaching the law would be prosecuted according to the law.

Woe raid, arrest warrant

He said the raid at Woe was as a result of intelligence and surveillance work conducted by the commission.

He explained that while the sacks of dried leaves, which weighed grossly 7153.51kg, were successfully seized, NACOC officials were still pursuing one Gideon Yao Kudzinawo, believed to be the owner of the consignment, and that a warrant had been issued to that effect.

He encouraged the police to apprehend the said suspect and produce him before the Accra High Court.

“Since March 15, NACOC has been pursuing Kudzinawo but it has not been successful.

“A warrant has, therefore, been issued for his arrest for the possession and exportation of a narcotic substance, contrary to sections 36 and 37 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act 2020, Act 1019, and we continue to lay surveillance at the crime scene to ensure that the suspect is apprehended and brought to face the law,” Mr Amoah emphasised.

-Graphic