The NPP Minority in Parliament has raised an alarm disclosing that over $1 billion in drug seizures have been linked to Ghana in less than two years under the John Mahama government.
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, in a statement signed on September 13, raised alarm about the frequency and scale of major narcotics trafficking cases in which Ghana has featured in the last 18 months under the Mahama government.
The Minority cited the recent seizure of cocaine, valued at over $260 million, concealed in a container of plastic waste by French authorities.
The NPP minority disclosed that both seizures made within the country and drug consignments intercepted by foreign authorities after being traced to Ghana amount to over $1 billion in less than two years.
Parts of the Minority statement read, “The Minority in Parliament has watched with grave alarm as, over the past eighteen months, Ghana has repeatedly featured in major narcotics trafficking cases both at home and abroad. We set out below the chronology of these incidents, beginning with the seizures made on our own soil.
Local seizure: On 4th March 2025, the National Intelligence Bureau intercepted a tipper truck at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast carrying over 3.3 tonnes of cocaine concealed beneath sand, en route from Takoradi to Accra, with an estimated street value exceeding US$350 million. Within the same period, a second consignment of an estimated 120 slabs of cocaine, valued at approximately US$150 million, was intercepted along the Takoradi–Cape Coast highway. On 5th August 2026, the Tema Regional Police Command seized 866 parcels of suspected cocaine concealed in sacks of gari at a warehouse within the Tema Harbour enclave, valued at US$6.9 million.
Alongside these seizures, two troubling incidents remain unresolved: the landing at Kotoka International Airport, on or around 20th March 2025, of aircraft alleged to be carrying narcotics and undeclared US currency from Gran Canaria; and the MV Sankofa affair of July 2025, in which a vessel found sailing under a forged flag and liable to a fine of almost GH¢12 million was released by the Ghana Maritime Authority after payment of only a fraction of that sum, without full inspection of its cargo, only to be arrested days later in Senegal carrying narcotics.
They further detailed Foreign seizures linked to Ghana. “On 18th June 2026, Australian customs authorities seized 320kg of methamphetamine, valued at a further US$261 million, concealed in a charcoal consignment traced to Ghana. On 10th September 2026, Reuters reported that French customs officers at the port of Dunkirk seized nearly 3.9 metric tonnes of cocaine, valued at over US$260 million, concealed in a container of plastic waste that had departed our shores.
Taken together, high-profile seizures linked to Ghana under this NDC administration now stand at well over US$1 billion in under two years.
International drug enforcement agencies have long estimated that only around one in every ten consignments of trafficked narcotics is ever intercepted. Ghanaians must be allowed to draw their own conclusions about what that widely cited detection rate means for the volume of narcotics that may be moving through our ports, airports, and waters undetected.
Equally troubling is what has happened to the local cases after the cameras leave. In the Pedu Junction matter, more than a year after the seizure, it is only the driver, a housemaid, and a small handful of peripheral suspects who have been arraigned and remain on bail, while the actual financiers and high-profile dealers behind a US$350 million cocaine shipment remain unidentified and unpunished. This pattern — in which couriers, drivers, mates, and freight-forwarding agents are paraded before the courts while the true owners of these consignments walk free — raises serious questions about the seriousness, independence, and reach of investigations under this Government.
The frequency and scale with which narcotics-related incidents are happening under the watch of the Mahama-led NDC Government, and the silence of the very agencies mandated to stop it should be of grave concern to all well-meaning Ghanaians.
The Minority also raised concerns about the effectiveness of measures being implemented to prevent international drug cartels from exploiting Ghana’s ports, airports, highways and territorial waters, expressing concern about what it described as the silence of state agencies responsible for preventing and investigating narcotics trafficking.
Meanwhile, Dr Francis-Xavier Sosu, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Member of Parliament (MP) for Madina, has called for a probe into the seizure of cocaine worth over $260 million by French authorities in a shipment from Ghana.
According to the Madina MP, Ghana’s hard-earned reputation must not be dented by the actions of a few self-serving individuals who may seek to illegally enrich themselves at the expense of the State.
He argued that the Mahama government’s failure to find the people behind the bust would mean the government would be putting its “international reputation”, which is a national asset, on the line.
Dr Francis-Xavier Sosu commended President Mahama and the Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa for their efforts to project Ghana positively on the international stage, warning that Ghana’s democratic credentials and diplomatic standing must not be undermined by criminal activity.
In a post shared on Facebook on September 14, 2026, Dr Francis-Xavier Sosu wrote, “His Excellency John Dramani Mahama and the NDC Government have done commendably well in positioning Ghana 🇬🇭 as a respected global leader in diplomacy. The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, has equally worked tirelessly to project Ghana 🇬🇭 onto the international stage as a country of integrity and a leader in democracy in Africa.
This hard-earned reputation must not be dented by the actions of a few self-serving individuals who may seek to illegally enrich themselves at the expense of the State. Accordingly, I believe the reported seizure by French authorities of a cocaine consignment valued at approximately $260 million must be thoroughly investigated, and any persons found culpable must be brought to book,” he wrote.
See the statement below:
@ghnow_ Hon. Alan Kyeremanten spotted at the funeral of Mrs Alice Serwaa Manu #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ Former President Nana Akufo-Addo and his wife, Rebecca Akufo-Addo, arrive at the funeral to pay their respects to the late Mrs. Alice Serwaa Manu. #GHNow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
