GH¢6.9 Million, $440,000 Cash: Muntaka details financial networks behind illicit drug trade

The Interior Minister, Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka, has disclosed that his outfit has traced about GH¢6.9 million and $440,000 in cash suspected to be linked to persons involved in illicit drug trafficking.

He made the disclosure on Monday, August 24 2026, during the Government Accountability Series, as he outlined the government’s efforts to disrupt the financial networks behind the drug trade.

According to him, the campaign is no longer focused only on arresting drug users and distributors but is increasingly targeting the people and networks believed to be financing and facilitating the trade.

“Our campaign is not just [targeted] at the users, but those who are bringing it,” the minister said.

Muntaka said security agencies were tracing assets suspected to have been acquired through proceeds from illicit drugs and restraining them while investigations and prosecutions continue.

“When we get them, we seize their assets, or we taint their assets, freezing them while the prosecution is going on,” he stated.

The minister said 73 assets linked to suspected drug-related activities had been traced during the period under review.

He added that about 19 kilogrammes of gold had also been seized in suspected drug money-laundering cases.

“Cash that has been associated with these persons involved in these drugs, about 6.9 million and then about 440,000 US dollars, has been restrained,” he said.

Muntaka said the seizures form part of a broader strategy to cut off the financial support that keeps the illicit drug trade running.

He said between January 2025 and July 2026, security agencies seized more than 8,500 kilogrammes of narcotic drugs and about 45.4 million tramadol tablets.

The operations also resulted in 217 arrests, with 165 prosecutions initiated in connection with drug trafficking and abuse.

The minister said the government would continue to rely on intelligence-led operations to identify those behind the trade, trace their assets and ensure that suspected proceeds of crime are not allowed to remain in their possession while cases are before the courts.

NA/VPO