Ghana has been ranked the fifth-largest country of origin for cocaine seized at the port of Antwerp in Belgium in 2025.
According to Belgian customs figures, Ghana was the only African country on a list which made up of Latin American producers and transit states.
Reports by JoyNews Research detailed that “Belgian customs seized nearly 55 tonnes of cocaine at Antwerp last year, 24 per cent more than the 44 tonnes seized in 2024. Belgium’s Finance Minister, Jan Jambon, presented the figures on 21 January 2026. Ecuador, Costa Rica, Brazil and Colombia made up the rest of the top five, according to the breakdown reported by VRT, Belgium’s public broadcaster. VRT described Ghana as “de vreemde eend in de bijt”, the odd one out”.
“Antwerp is the main entry point for cocaine into Europe, and Belgian customs describe Belgium as the continent’s most important destination for cocaine shipped by sea. In customs figures, “country of origin” means the country where a container was loaded and shipped from, not where the drug was produced. None of the cocaine is grown in Ghana. It comes from the Andes and is hidden in legitimate Ghanaian exports.
Ghana’s ranking reflects a run of large seizures at Antwerp on cargo from Tema. In late November 2025, Belgian authorities found 2,829 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in cassava flour shipped from Tema. In December, a further 1,158 kilogrammes of suspected cocaine was found in a shipment from Ghana. Together the two seizures come to about 4 tonnes, roughly 7 per cent of all the cocaine seized at the port in 2025.
Ghana’s appearance on the list is new. A major 2022 analysis of Europe’s cocaine market by the European Union’s drugs agency and Europol named Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Benin, Sierra Leone and The Gambia as West African countries linked to large seizures. It did not mention Ghaana
The Belgian figures are part of a wider pattern of seizures abroad traced to Ghanaian ports”, the JoyNews report detailed.
Meanwhile, Rev John Ntim Fordjour, the Ranking Member on Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee, has raised alarm over the series of drug seizures linked to Ghana.
According to Ntim Fordjour, Ghana has been linked to eight major transnational drug seizures recorded between April 2025 and September 2026.
The Assin South MP expressed concern over the continued interception of narcotics consignments allegedly connected to Ghanaian ports and airports.
He further highlighted what he described as a worrying trend in the country’s involvement in international drug trafficking cases.
Speaking on JoyNews’ Newsfile on Saturday, September 26, 2026, Rev Ntim Fordjour detailed, “April 23, 2025. We saw at Accra International Airport 89.74 kg, 73 slabs of cocaine that was intercepted in the Netherlands from the airport”.
“Then, on May 18, 2025, also linked to Kotoka International Airport in the UK and another one in Dubai, 17.72 kg of cannabis,” Rev Fordjour stated.
“…and then in the case of Dubai, 53.6 kg of cannabis that’s in June 2025…” he established.
The MP further cited another cocaine interception in Amsterdam in June 2025, which he linked to Tema Port.
“…in Amsterdam linked to Tema Port, 4.5 tonnes of cocaine was intercepted,” he indicated.
“Then on 2nd December 2025 in Antwerp, linked to Tema Port, 2,829 tonnes of cocaine was intercepted,” he recounted
“Following up on December 4, 2025, 1.158 tonnes of suspected cocaine was intercepted at the port of Antwerp,” he said.
“On June 18, 2026 this year, in the Netherlands, the Australian… and in Australia, the Australian Border Force intercepted 320 kg of methamphetamine valued at 280 million Australian dollars,” he recalled.
As recent as 10th September, 3.9 tonnes of cocaine… and it is the biggest, the biggest bust linked to Ghana in recent years.”
The MP added, “The biggest was alarming: 3.9 tonnes of cocaine busted at Dunkirk, linked to Tema Port.”
According to Ntim Fordjour, the interceptions continued even after President John Dramani Mahama had met security officials at the Jubilee House.
He added, “Even when the president had met all the [security officials] in Jubilee House around the table, some deterrence was expected to have been instilled”.
The Assin South MP disclosed that two or three days after that meeting, another illicit drug shipment was intercepted in South Africa, while another was intercepted in Belgium, both linked to Ghana.
The MP warned against turning the issue into a political competition between administrations.
“Within 18 months it is 12.7 tonnes,” he added.
See the post below:
Ghana ranked 5th among the top sources of cocaine seized at Belgium's Antwerp port in 2025, the only country outside Latin America on the list.#JoyNews pic.twitter.com/sYUSOjiBPs
— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) September 29, 2026
@ghnow_ The mother of late law student Ivan Baidoo has called for justice, saying to the accused police officer: “You painfully killed my child. I want justice.” #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ Family members of the late Ivan Baidoo have reportedly rained curses on the police officer accused in connection with his death, as he appeared before the Adabraka District Court. #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
