The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) says it allowed a Syrian national suspected of trafficking about 40 kilogrammes of cocaine from Ghana to travel to Lebanon as part of an operation targeting a wider international drug network.
The suspect was arrested at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Saturday, October 31, after arriving from Accra with the suspected cocaine concealed in two pieces of luggage.
NACOC’s Head of Public Relations, Francis Amoah, said the decision to let him travel was part of an investigative strategy known as controlled delivery, which allows authorities to track suspected drug consignments across borders and identify other members of trafficking networks.
Speaking on the operation, Amoah said the Commission had monitored the suspect throughout his stay in Ghana, including his arrival, hotel accommodation and departure from the country.
He acknowledged concerns about how the suspect was able to leave through Kotoka International Airport but said the operation was intended to target the wider network rather than arrest only the individual carrying the drugs.
“It is a transnational organised crime, and one country does not have all the requisite logistics to be able to fight and fight it well,” he said.
Amoah explained that controlled delivery involves allowing a suspected trafficker and the consignment to proceed to another country, where authorities can intercept them and pursue other people linked to the operation.
“Controlled delivery is where you know about the person, what the person is carrying, but you want the person to go to the other side because when the person gets to the other side, the person, not him alone but the network associated with him, will be arrested,” he said.
He said the approach relies on cooperation between law enforcement agencies in different countries to disrupt organised drug trafficking networks.
