Majority Leader and Member of Parliament for Builsa North, James Agalga has revealed that President John Dramani Mahama has approved the recruitment of 1,200 additional staff for NACOC to strengthen its capacity to combat drug trafficking.
According to the Minority caucus the recruitment will complement the 495 officers trained by NACOC in 2025 as part of efforts to address staffing gaps and expand their operations.
The Majority Leader stated, “This government has more than doubled NACOC’s staff, training 495 new officers in 2025 alone, the largest number of officers to ever graduate from NACOC. This isn’t just a number. It’s the difference between an agency that can respond and an agency that can be there in communities at borders along the path traffickers go to exploit. This government has taken it a step further”.
“His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama’s government has approved the recruitment of another 1200 staff for NACOC, a bold and consistent move that will go a long way to fill the deficit in the Commission’s staffing,” he said.
The majority comment follows, Nana Boakye who at an NPP press conference on Tuesday, September 22, alleged that drug traffickers had established laboratories in Ghana to process narcotics for export.
According to Nana B, the NPP’s intelligence gathered suggests drug traffickers have established clandestine laboratories in Ghana which are used to process narcotics for export.
Speaking at a press conference organised by the opposition NPP on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, Henry Nana Boakye stated, “These drug lords, they have established basic laboratories here for processing of illicit drugs and narcotics under the watch of President Mahama”.
“And it appears that he doesn’t care.”
“That is the reason why volumes of drugs traced to Ghana keep surfacing in the folds of ships and the luggage of passengers in Sydney, Dunkirk and Johannesburg,” he said.
He further alleged that some government officials were facilitating the movement of narcotics out of the country.
The Majority leader further suggested that the sharp increase in recent narcotics arrests and seizures is due to strategic measures introduced by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) and other security agencies under the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.
James Agalga disclosed that NACOC recorded a significant rise in enforcement activities in 2025 compared with the previous year.
The Majority leader revealed that NACOC recorded 73 arrests nationwide in 2024, which was its highest annual enforcement figure at the time adding that the the number increased to 217 arrests across 165 cases in 2025.
According to him, the 197% increase reflected stronger enforcement operations, improved inter-agency collaboration.
The majority leader also disclosed that narcotics seizures also increased in 2025, with 1,497.75 kilogrammes of narcotic substances seized at an estimated street value of US$5.24 million.
He further revealed that asset-based enforcement operations resulted in the seizure of GH¢6.93 million and US$440,382 in cash, as well as 19.72 kilogrammes of gold allegedly linked to suspected drug-money laundering.
James Agalga added that NACOC had increased its District Commands from fewer than 10 to 77, extending the Commission’s presence to all 16 regions.
The Majority leader stated, “In 2024, the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) recorded 73 arrests nationwide. Then the Commission’s most productive enforcement year on record under this government. NACOC enforcement operations in 2025 produced 217 arrests across 165 cases, an increase of 197 percent.
So let’s compare the figures, 73 arrests versus 217 arrests across 165 cases. And in percentage terms, we are looking at a 197 percent increase between the arrests effected in 2024 and the arrests effected in 2025.”
He stated, “The 2025 performance was due to the concrete institutional changes this government has put in place”.
@ghnow_ Majority MP George Kweku Ricketts-Hagan has criticised the previous NPP administration’s approach to combating drug-related cases, saying it relied on outdated technology to tackle modern narcotics challenges. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ The Majority in Parliament has addressed the press on recent narcotics-related cases across the country, highlighting enforcement efforts and the government’s response to the growing concerns over drug trafficking. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – Nkz_Lyrics & Caption – DJ NKAY HUB
