NACOC Was Left To Fail And Blinded At Tema Port Before 2025 – Majority Leader Reveals

The Majority Leader in Parliament, Hon. James Agalga, has revealed that the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) was left to fail and was systematically weakened prior to 2025.

Addressing a press conference at Parliament House on Thursday, September 24, 2026, Hon. Agalga said for years the Commission was under-resourced, understaffed and under-institutionalized to safeguard the nation against the growing, sophisticated and adaptable narcotics industry.

"This was not a commandment which was not carried out. This was a need that was not met and resources were not available to do so," he stated.

Hon. Agalga disclosed that a critical decision taken in 2018 created a major blind spot at the country's ports. According to him, NACOC was removed from mandatory joint inspection at the Tema Port.

"A Narcotics Control Agency without eyes to see the cargo coming through this country's busiest port is an agency that has been called upon to guard a door without a key," he said.

The Majority Leader, who is also the MP for Builsa North, said the result of that decision was immediate and permanent, as a critical link was broken in the profiling, screening and interdiction chain at the weakest point where the transnational trafficking of cocaine, tramadol and other controlled substances is most vulnerable in Ghana.

He added that the narcotics risk intervention system was not fully implemented in Tema, and the institution responsible for safeguarding the country was excluded from the process designed for that purpose.