War on drugs * US special unit operational next month

Front Page: June 20, 2008.
Story: Albert K. Salia
A special unit to help combat the menace of hard drugs in Ghana will become operational at the US Embassy in Accra next month.
Details of the unit’s operations, as well as levels of its collaboration with other narcotic control agencies in the country, were discussed yesterday at a closed-door meeting in Accra between members of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Interior Minister, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor.
Last month, the outgoing US Ambassador in Ghana, Ms Pamela Bridgewater, announced the setting up of the special unit to collaborate with narcotic control agencies in Ghana to help fight drug trafficking in the country and yesterday’s meeting in Accra was part of the programme to make the unit operational.
The drug enforcement officials said the office would be fully equipped and manned by highly trained personnel in narcotics control to work with their Ghanaian counterparts to find a lasting solution to the problem, especially drug barons who used Ghana as one of their key transit points for drug trafficking.
The US delegation was led by the Chief Operations Officer of the DEA in Washington, Mr Michael Braun, and included the DEA’s Director for Africa and Europe, Mr Rusell F. Benson, who told the Daily Graphic that the DEA had, since the 1980s, operated in the sub-region through its office in Lagos, Nigeria.
He, however, said the alarming levels of the narcotic trade required that an additional office be opened in Ghana.
He described the threat posed by the narcotic trade in West Africa as serious, hence the need for the US to increase its presence in the region.
For his part, Mr Braun said maximum impact could only be attained through co-operation in the war on the illicit drug trade.
He said drug trafficking was a global problem, hence the need for countries and agencies to work together.
He said the DEA was one of the largest enforcement agencies in the US and expressed the hope that the opening of the office in Ghana would assist in dealing with the problem.
Dr Addo-Kufuor expressed the government’s appreciation for the support received from the US, which he described as a serious development partner.
He, however, described the US support for Ghana in the fight against drugs as “rather modest”.
The Interior Minister made a further appeal to the US government to help provide an X-ray machine at the Kotoka International Airport to facilitate the detection of internally concealed drugs.
He also called for the provision of speed boats to enable the security agencies to patrol Ghana’s coastline to minimise the smuggling of narcotic drugs by sea.
Dr Addo-Kufuor called on the US government to provide for the intensive and effective training of personnel of the Narcotics Control Board, the Ghana Navy, the Ghana Police Service and other stakeholders involved in the fight against the narcotic trade.
He said with those three initiatives, Ghana would make a positive impact on the fight against the illicit trade.
The US State Department, in its 2008 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report (INCSR) published in the March 27 edition of the Daily Graphic, said corruption and lack of resources were seriously impeding Ghana’s efforts at dealing with the drug menace.
“Ghana made limited progress in 2007 in addressing its legislative and enforcement deficiencies brought into the public eye by the 2006 narcotics scandals and a long road lies ahead,” it stated.
The report said “Ghana made limited efforts to combat the increasing drug flow in 2007, and arrests and seizures were down from 2006, although they were higher than 2005”.
It said Ghana’s interest in attracting investment provided a good cover for foreign drug barons to enter the country under the guise of doing legitimate business.
The report, however, noted that in 2007, South American traffickers reduced their need to visit Ghana in person by increasing reliance on local partners, thus insulating themselves from possible arrest by law enforcement officials.