Cocaine hidden in packaged gari intercepted at KIA, allegedly rumoured to be Kivo Gari – Unconfirmed reports

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Reports coming in suggest the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has intercepted a major cocaine haul at Kotoka International Airport (KIA) concealed in gari packaging.

According to reports, the suspect, whose identity has not yet been officially released, is said to have concealed the illicit substance in a consignment of packaged gari dried cassava flakes intended to be shipped outside Ghana.

A GHOne news flyer in a post on X stated, but did not mention the name of any brand, “NACOC intercepts major cocaine haul concealed in gari packaging at Kotoka”.

However, rumours already circulating on social media alleged that the cocaine was hidden in Procus Ghana Limited’s Kivo gari mix.

“So it’s Kivo Gari that is using its business for smuggling Gari, or it’s another Gari brand? A country where the faces of criminals are protected by the state and law enforcement agencies. Please mention the name of the brand”, a netizen claims.

One more X user added, “Which gari please? Make nothing happen to kivo gari for me oo”.

Also, netizens on X  have also fingered celebrity chef and business mogul, Belinda “Big Cheezy” Amis, who has also been fingered after the Deputy Director General of NACOC revealed a female suspect was also arrested.

However, Chez Amis has since debunked the rumours with a post on social media along with some videos of herself making deliveries.

The news comes on the heels of the Deputy Director General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Alexander Twum-Barimah, who has clarified media reports which suggested they have arrested a manager of a food manufacturing company in a cocaine bust.

Alexander Twum-Barimah clarified that NACOC has not arrested any senior manager of a manufacturing company.

According to the Deputy NACOC Director General, the individuals arrested are not employees or members of management or any connection to any of the brands whose products were used to conceal the drugs.

According to him, the companies themselves are not responsible for the acts of these individuals, adding that because of that, NACOC has decided not to publicly name any brands.

Speaking in an interview on TV3’s Ghana Tonight on February 11, 2026, Twum-Barimah explained, “The persons arrested are not managers or staff of any popular food manufacturing company. From where our investigations have reached, they are not linked to these companies in any way”.

The Deputy Director General of NACOC detailed that they encountered about four different food products used in similar attempts at different times, explaining that the first incident involved about 250kg of cocaine, which was intercepted in the Netherlands after being shipped from Ghana and concealed among branded food products.

“The very first one, a Lebanese and some other persons were involved, they have been arrested, they are in court.

“The second incident occurred in 2025 at the cargo section of Kotoka International Airport, where cocaine was again mixed with food products. When we intercepted it, no individual was present, so we seized the items and began investigations. That particular batch contained about 3kg of cocaine, which we sent to the Ghana Standards Authority for testing. It was confirmed to be cocaine.”

Alexander Twum-Barimah further detailed, “So we decided to investigate deeper. Then, in 2026 early part we got another food product mix with cocaine again. What they do is that some part of the packaging is a good product, but you will find another part being cocaine. God being good through CCTV footage and further work, we were able to arrest a suspect when he attempted to repeat the act for the third time, this time using a different product.

That third product batch contained 1.05kg of cocaine. We also arrested a female suspect and discovered that they had machines they were using for these activities.”

“No. Three different brands were involved. The fourth case was not really tied to any brand. In the 250kg case in the Netherlands, a particular company’s food product was used to conceal the cocaine in the container.

The arrangement had the food products at the outer layers and the cocaine hidden within. The same pattern was used in the Kotoka case, where food products from various companies were used as part of the concealment.”

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