The National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), under a court order, has destroyed 3.3 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of $350 million. The illicit drugs were intercepted in March this year while being transported in a tipper truck from Cape Coast to Accra.
The destruction exercise took place on Wednesday, June 4, at the Bundase Military Base. The process was supervised by a trial judge, state prosecutors, officers from the NIB, and personnel from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), following confirmatory tests that authenticated the narcotic content.
In addition to the cocaine, various other confiscated narcotic and pharmaceutical substances seized in separate operations by NACOC were also incinerated during the exercise.
Addressing the media, Brigadier General Maxwell Obuba Mantey, Director General of NACOC, reaffirmed the government’s resolve to combat drug trafficking and protect Ghana’s youth from the dangers of substance abuse.
“We carried out this operation in full public view to demonstrate our firm commitment to ending this menace,” he stated. “Those involved in the drug trade should take this as a warning—we will not allow them to destroy the future of our country.”
He further announced that NACOC will launch a series of nationwide special operations starting next month to apprehend drug traffickers and bring them to justice.
“We will expose and publicly name offenders. This can no longer be tolerated in our society,” Brigadier General Mantey warned.
