'Missing cocaine' story doubtful – Agbey

The cocaine missing story put out by the Finder newspaper on Friday April 28 raises some doubt because the paper failed to give substantial evidence to support the claim, David Agbey, a security expert, has said.

According to him, the failure of the paper to provide adequate information on the subject matter has made it difficult for security experts do a comprehensive analysis of the situation.

His comment comes on the heels of the Customs Excise and Preventive Service saying that there is no missing consignment of cocaine at the Tema Port, as revealed by the Sector Commander of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) at the Tema Port, Confidence Nyadzi.

The Finder reported that 10 bags of suspected cocaine, each weighing 50kg (500kg in all), hidden in a consignment of rice, with an estimated street value of about $30million, have vanished from the Tema Port under mysterious circumstances.

But the Customs boss said: “I can tell you that there is no truth in that reportage. I know that this matter has been dealt with at the office of the Minister of Interior and at that meeting was the commissioner of customs, the ex-commissioner, Mr John Pianim, myself, NACOB, and the relevant stakeholders. We looked at all the issues involved, as to whether there was cocaine missing or not, I don’t think anybody can tell you that. And I’m telling you that the report is misleading. There was no cocaine in Tema Port in anybody’s custody which got missing.”

He continued: “We have done investigations, BNI has done investigation, NACOB is doing investigations. It is expected that we will know what exactly the story is; whether there is cocaine at all or not. On authority, I can tell you that I’m not aware of any cocaine shipment."

“I’m the head of Customs at Tema Port and I’m not aware of cocaine shipment. I am telling you categorically that I am not aware of any missing cocaine at Tema Port. If somebody says so, perhaps he has some facts I don’t have,” he told Accra-based Citi FM on Friday, 28 April.

Speaking on this development on 505 on Class 91.3FM on Friday, Mr Agbey said: “As we speak now, it is a bit difficult for us to accept the report coming from the Finder newspaper. I say so because of the fact that the Customs Excise and Preventive Service has actually denied the fact that there has been such a cocaine scandal or whatever it is.

“So it is making it a bit difficult for us to discuss the issue as we would have wanted to actually discuss it unless the Finder gentleman, the editor, proves otherwise that he has substantial evidence that suggests that ‘Yes, cocaine actually entered into our shores at the Tema Harbour without the knowledge of the customs people and other security agencies that were supposed to take charge and take responsibility to make sure that those people who actually brought the cocaine are arrested.’

“…At this moment, it is not good for some of us to critically digest the issue as we would have wished to deal with it. I don’t like conjecturing. As somebody who understands security-related issues, you need to speak to the fact, you need to have a lot of evidence so that when you are discussing the subject you can profile a certain level of solution to the problem. But as it is now, it is a bit doubtful for us to be able to do genuine contribution to knowledge as far as this subject of cocaine scandal is concerned.”