Arresting Cocaine Couriers Not Enough; Go After Financiers - Bawumia

Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, says government must go beyond arresting drug couriers and unmask the powerful individuals and entities financing cocaine shipments linked to Ghana.

According to Dr Bawumia, Ghanaians deserve to know who is behind the organisation and financing of the shipments and how such large consignments are able to pass through the country's ports undetected.

He raised concerns that Ghana is fast gaining notoriety internationally following the repeated seizure of drugs abroad that transited through Ghana's borders unnoticed.

"Our dear motherland is gaining notoriety for drugs being arrested abroad, having passed through our borders unnoticed. Our country's name is being dragged through ports in Europe, and the government has answered with meetings, not results," Dr Bawumia said.

"Arresting couriers is not enough. Ghanaians want to know who is financing these shipments and how they keep getting through," he added.

Dr Bawumia made the remarks at the NPP's National Delegates Conference held at the Baba Yara Sports Stadium in Kumasi on October 3, 2026.

His comments come on the back of a series of international narcotics seizures involving consignments linked to Ghana. The latest was the interception by French customs authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at the northern port of Dunkirk on September 10.

The cocaine, valued at about €225 million (US$261.45 million), was concealed in a container of plastic waste that arrived from Ghana and was reportedly partly destined for Antwerp in Belgium. French prosecutors have since opened an investigation into the shipment and the criminal network suspected to be behind it.