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

Security consultant Dr Ishmael Norman has warned that drug traffickers are exploiting weaknesses in Ghana’s security system to move large consignments of narcotics through the country. He says Ghana’s approach to drug enforcement must change from treating trafficking as an occasional emergency to confronting it as a serious national threat. His comments come after French customs seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine in a container that had departed from Ghana.

The shipment, intercepted at the port of Dunkirk on September 10, was valued at more than $260 million. Ghanaian authorities have also recorded major seizures, including 866 parcels of suspected cocaine at the Tema Harbour enclave in August. On September 6, police in Wa seized 192 compressed wraps of suspected cocaine following an intelligence-led operation.

Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Wednesday, Dr Norman said the scale of the seizures exposes weaknesses across Ghana’s drug enforcement architecture. “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 responsibility cannot rest with one institution, arguing that several security and regulatory agencies must work together. “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 system is too fragmented and called for a review of how the agencies operate.

“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 also raised concerns about personnel, infrastructure and investigative capacity within the institutions responsible for fighting narcotics trafficking. They don’t even have enough vehicles to do their job.” He said Customs also faces infrastructure challenges, while questions remain about who is responsible for containers moving through the system. “When it comes to the chain of custody of a lot of the containers, who is responsible for the containers?

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. “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. 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.