Kumadoe disputes Muntaka’s claim of insider leaks in France cocaine case

Fraud Prevention Expert and Security Consultant, Richard Kumadoe, has challenged Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak’s claim that elements within Ghana’s security architecture may have been compromised and could be leaking intelligence to drug traffickers.

Kumadoe said the recent arrest of suspects by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) in connection with the seizure of nearly four tonnes of cocaine in France suggested that intelligence had been shared between Ghanaian and international authorities.

Speaking on TV3’s Daily Brief on Thursday, September 17, 2026, he questioned how NACOC was able to make arrests if Ghanaian authorities were completely unaware of the movement of the consignment.

“When the France case came, we told you people in the media that our people were involved. Yesterday, NACOC made an arrest. Where did they get the information from?” he asked.

His comments follow concerns raised by Muntaka about alleged insider involvement in the narcotics trade and the possible impact on Ghana’s relationship with foreign security agencies.

Muntaka said foreign counterparts were becoming hesitant to share sensitive intelligence with Ghana because of concerns that information could be compromised by insiders within the security architecture.

According to him, alleged insider involvement in criminal activities could undermine confidence in Ghana’s security institutions and make international partners reluctant to share intelligence.

Kumadoe, however, disagreed with the suggestion that intelligence-sharing had become a problem within Ghana’s security system.

He explained that intelligence agencies operate on the principle that information is shared according to both the need to share and the need to know.

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“We are talking about intelligence. Even intelligence information sharing with those who work within the BNI, two things they taught us. They need to share and they need to know.

“They need to share and they need to know. And these things are run at the highest level. This is a counter-intelligence institution in this country,” he indicated.

Kumadoe said intelligence does not necessarily have to be made available to every official within the security architecture, arguing that different levels of information are provided to different individuals depending on their responsibilities.

He also pointed to Ghana’s intelligence cooperation with other countries and international organisations, including Russia, the European Union and Burkina Faso, saying such arrangements were essential to fighting transnational crimes.

“In all this pact, if you go and check, they share intelligence to a mutual benefit. They cannot live without this. It's the same way we can also not live without them,” he said.

French authorities knew about the consignment

Kumadoe further argued that the circumstances surrounding the cocaine shipment suggested that intelligence had been shared between Ghanaian and French authorities.

He said French authorities had reportedly indicated that they were aware of the consignment before it arrived in France.

“The fact that something left shores and got there, and they said they were aware, and we got people arrested, I can bet you my professional and my personal guidance that there has been an intelligence sharing,” he noted.

Kumadoe questions deliberate release theory

Kumadoe was also asked whether his position meant Ghanaian authorities knew that the cocaine was headed for France but deliberately allowed the shipment to leave the country so that arrests could be made abroad.

He cited previous cases involving suspects who had been on the radar of security agencies but were arrested outside Ghana, arguing that intelligence operations can sometimes involve monitoring suspects and tracking their activities beyond Ghanaian territory.

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He referred to a former Member of Parliament who was arrested in the United States in a previous cocaine-related case, arguing that Ghanaian security agencies had been monitoring the individual before the arrest.

He said such cases demonstrated that the work of intelligence agencies could not always be assessed simply by looking at where an arrest eventually occurred.

Kumadoe also rejected suggestions that senior Ghanaian security officials should automatically be viewed with suspicion because a major drug shipment managed to leave the country.

“We have done this job for years and put the integrity of this country. Let nobody come from anywhere and doubt the integrity of our big men and women who have sacrificed so much for this country and put their life on the line,” he said.

He maintained that the existence of an international drug shipment and its subsequent interception did not, on its own, establish that Ghanaian security officials had leaked information or deliberately facilitated the movement of the drugs.

Intelligence-sharing remains central to case

The security consultant said Ghana’s cooperation with foreign law-enforcement agencies remains critical because narcotics trafficking operates across borders.

He maintained that intelligence-sharing arrangements involve different levels and degrees of information and that the fact that French authorities were reportedly aware of the shipment before its arrival, followed by arrests in Ghana, should be considered in that context.

His comments come as Ghanaian authorities continue investigations into how the large cocaine consignment was able to pass through the country’s export system before being intercepted in France.

The cocaine was intercepted by French customs on September 10, 2026, after arriving at Dunkirk in a container carrying plastic waste from Ghana. The shipment, estimated at almost 3.9 tonnes, has a reported street value of about €225 million.

Following the seizure, NACOC arrested suspects in Ghana and said it was working with French authorities to obtain additional information to help trace how the consignment left Ghana.

NACOC has also said intelligence available to Ghanaian authorities indicated that Dutch fugitive Jos Leijdekkers, alias “Bolle Jos”, who is allegedly linked to the shipment, had not entered Ghana, although he was believed to have associates operating in the country.

Four Ghanaians have since been arraigned and remanded in connection with the shipment. They are facing charges of conspiracy to commit a crime, namely the exportation of narcotic drugs without a licence, and exportation of narcotic drugs. Dutch national Leijdekkers is also named as an accused person and remains at large.

Watch the video below

Narcotics Trafficking: NACOC has made an arrest, where did they get the information from? The Interior Minister's claim of insider information leak is not true.

​- Richard Kumadoe, Security Consultant#DailyBrief #TV3GH pic.twitter.com/CeOySkPGn4

— #TV3GH (@tv3_ghana) September 17, 2026