Cocaine Boom: Confessions of a pusher and an ex-cop

DESPITE STEPS taken to combat illicit trafficking of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and the efforts against its abuse, the drug business is thriving and dealers are making it big, GYE NYAME CONCORD has gathered.

The booming drug business is causing outrage in law-enforcement circles as their efforts to track down dealers and combat the trade are not yielding the desired results.

For example, according to our undercover agents, the price of a small parcel of cocaine, formerly selling at ¢100,000 has jumped up to ¢200,000 while a wrapper or joint is now selling between ¢6,000 to ¢15,000, according to the quality of the stuff.

Giving reasons behind the booming drug trade, a notorious, stout, strong and violent bouncer of a drug dealer known as Ganji Gaaga at Accra New Town who goes by the nickname Alligator, told our men that the booming business is due to a video designed to show drug dealers the best way to hide their stash.

According to Alligator, the instructional video, "NEVER GET BUSTED AGAIN", shows viewers how to hide drugs, avoid canine units and dodge narcotic profiling.

However, an ex-police officer, C K Mawunyegah, who had a stellar career as a cop and made several arrests, seized many vehicles and money in different currencies in cash and other assets connected to the drug trade, told the GYE NYAME CONCORD that, "l am not sure it's all been worth it".

"What drives me mad is the injustice and unfairness in our system," he added, stressing that, "it outrages me personally, as l am sure it does many officers".

C K Mawunyegah attributed the booming drug business to police complicity, corruption within the judicial system and the law enforcement agencies, arguing further that the disjointed inter-agency coordination among law enforcement agencies, as well as political cover provided some drug lords by politicians, are also to blame for the surge in the narcotic trade.

For him, marijuana, hashish, cocaine and other psychotropic substances should rather be legalized, freeing up the country's police officers to fight more serious crimes.

He cited the Police Service as a major reason why Ghana has become a major transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly cocaine as well as heroin.

He said in the famous MV Benjamin case, security agencies interdicted the ship thought to have been carrying as much as two tons of cocaine, of which the police only seized 30kg.

He maintained that the MV Benjamin cocaine scandal in 2006, involving allegations of official complicity in the narcotics trade, has complicated Ghana's efforts to combat the drug trade.

He also blamed the backlog of cases, pending trials at the courts, as another major problem in controlling drug trafficking in the country.

Again, he mentioned 2006 as a year marked by a series of cocaine scandals, mentioning the allegations of police complicity in the drug trade, citing an incidence where five kilograms of cocaine went missing from a police evidence locker.

Mr Mawunyegah regretted that the present crop of officers working with the Ghana Police Service have not continued with the good works he and many of his contemporaries did to combat the illicit trade in the country.