The Head of Research at the Kofi Annan Peace Keeping Training Centre, Dr. Kwesi Anning, is calling for sanctions against persons involved in the alleged $30 million missing cocaine saga.
The Finder Newspaper on Saturday reported that 500 kilograms of cocaine worth 30 million dollars disappeared at the Tema Port under strange circumstances.
Authorities of the Port, and the Custom Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), have given conflicting accounts in separate interviews with denying the report.
Describing the situation as intelligence failure, Dr. Anning called for legal sanctions against persons found culpable, arguing that such cases hurt the reputation of the country.
“This is not a case about 30 million dollars, this is a case about National Security, and we have to ensure that we use the law to get answers from those who have failed this country.”
He further wondered why there were conflicting reports on the case, saying “there are standards as to how multiple institutions must collaborate and share information to the community so it raises the fundamental question as to why those standard procedures were not followed, but this is not for the first time. We saw it with the Nayele case where the National Institution which was expected to have collaborated with the British did not, but was lying to us later on. Even in the Tehoda case where an institution which ought to protect us was actually named one of their own officers and those who actually committed the crime, and we are seeing this repeat itself. What are the possible or potential domestic networks that allow the leakages to happen?”
According to the Finder newspaper, a ship carrying some containers with cocaine on-board arrived at the Tema Port in December 2016, but the suspected cocaine vanished before February 23, 2017, when all stakeholders conducted compulsory tests on the container.
The report stated that, K9 Dogs, which are specially trained to detect cocaine, confirmed traces of cocaine in the said container, while UK’s Operation West Bridge also conducted sampling by the use of itemisers which also confirmed traces of cocaine.
The newspaper also said separate investigations it conducted on the suspected missing cocaine by the Bureau of National Investigations (BNI), Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and Customs, have been submitted to the Interior Minister and the Attorney General’s offices.
The Editor of the Finder Newspaper, Elvis Darko, has rubbished claims discounting the discovery of cocaine at the Tema Port, that reportedly went missing.
The Sector Commander of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), at the Tema Port, Confidence Nyadzi, had earlier dismissed claims that 500 kilogrammes of cocaine worth about $30 million dollars had disappeared from the Port.
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(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
