General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Johnson Asiedu Nketia, has pooh-poohed attempts to question the ruling party’s much-trumpeted commitment to fighting the drug menace in the country following the seizure of two separate consignments of illicit drugs bound for the United Kingdom.
The recent discovery of two separate hauls of illicit drugs a few days apart by Border Force officials at UK’s Heathrow Airport in containers of fruits and vegetables flown from Ghana, with an estimated street value of £5 million, led to some members of the opposition New Patriotic Party accusing the ruling party of being narcotic peddlers.
But Mr Asiedu Nketia insists the NPP has no moral fortitude to harp on cocaine related issues in the country, since under the erstwhile Kufuor administration, Ghana became the hub of trading in the illicit drug, and even allowed suspected drug peddlers to get away with their booty.
He was reacting to comments made by the General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, that the NDC has filled the entry and exit points of the country's ports with party foot soldiers who are aiding to facilitate the smuggling of cocaine and other illicit drugs to other countries.
Border Force officials at UK Heathrow Airport on Monday, September 24th busted 1.5 tones of cannabis (wee) in tape-wrapped compressed packages within boxes on a flight from Accra.
The drugs, which street value is allegedly £4.3 million, were found in three separate freight containers filled with fresh fruit and vegetables and reported as the biggest cannabis seizure in three years.
Five officials from Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) who were supposed to be on duty on that day were subsequently arrested but released on bail to help in investigations.
24 hours after that drug bust-up, British officials announced that they have intercepted another drug consignment being smuggled from Ghana.
According to officials at London Heathrow Airport, this time, the consignment was cocaine and it was concealed in plantains from Ghana.
The UK Border Force said the cocaine weighed about 7.5 kg. The agency found the consignment Tuesday September 25, 2012 hidden inside plantains, within a larger freight consignment of fruit and vegetables from Ghana.
“The cocaine, which weighed about 7.5 kilos, was found on Tuesday September 25 hidden inside plantains within a larger freight consignment of fruit and vegetables from Ghana,” the UK Home Office said in a statement on September 28, 2012.
“The plantains had been hollowed out and the skins resealed in an attempt to conceal the powder inside,” the Home Office described.
The class A drugs could have had a potential value of approximately £750,000 if cut and sold on the street in the UK, according to British authorities.
Days after the seizure of the narcotics, the NPP General Secretary questioned the NDC’s much-trumpeted commitment to fighting the drug menace in the country.
But in a sharp riposte on HelloFM, General Mosquito as the NDC Chief Scribe is affectionately called, said Sir John’s assertions should be rubbished since he (Sir John) is regarded by most people as a “concert man” to wit a joker.
Wondering what moral clout the NPP has to even comment on issues bordering on cocaine trade, much more talk of accusing the ruling party, the NDC Chief Scribe proverbially likened the opposition party to someone clothed in cotton wool and attempting to hover over a flame.
“The NDC has a proven track record of providing a permanent solution to drug trafficking in the country whereas the NPP can only boast of letting illegal drugs trade gain grounds in the country…even one of the party’s financiers in the Brong Ahafo Region was arrested in the USA in 2004 for dealing in cocaine…I can only go on and on to talk about how the NPP failed miserably to tackle drug issues in the country if they are ready to bring it on,” Gen Mosquito said.
