The Civil Foundation for the Future (CFF-Ghana) has called for urgent and coordinated action to address what it describes as Ghana’s growing drug trafficking challenge.

The organisation said recent narcotics seizures linked to Ghana had raised serious concerns about the scale and sophistication of international drug trafficking networks operating through the country.

In a statement signed by its Executive Director, Richard Kasu, CFF-Ghana cited the 320 kilogrammes of methamphetamine reportedly traced from Accra to Australia in charcoal bags, the interception of 45.4 million tramadol tablets nationwide, and the seizure by French authorities of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed in a container shipped from Ghana.

According to the organisation, the developments have placed Ghana’s ports, borders and anti-narcotics enforcement systems under increased international scrutiny.

CFF-Ghana said Ghana should be concerned about indications that international drug syndicates may be increasingly using the country as a transit point and operational base.

It also referred to statements by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) that drug syndicates were using fishermen to ferry narcotics from the high seas and that synthetic opioids such as tapentadol were entering communities.

The organisation is therefore demanding greater transparency from the government on the outcome of major narcotics investigations and interceptions.

It specifically called for a full briefing on cases including the Australia-linked methamphetamine case and the cocaine seizure in Dunkirk, France, which it said had been linked to Ghana.

CFF-Ghana further called for all persons implicated in drug trafficking investigations to be treated equally, regardless of their institutional position or social status.

“Whether uniformed or civilian, powerful elites or ordinary, all persons linked to trafficking must face the full rigours of the law,” the organisation said.

It also called for stronger coordination among institutions involved in combating narcotics trafficking, including NACOC, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Kotoka International Airport, the Ghana Navy, the Fisheries Commission and the Financial Intelligence Centre.

According to CFF-Ghana, such coordination should focus not only on intercepting drugs but also on tracing the financial networks behind trafficking operations.

The organisation urged the government, Parliament, security agencies, traditional authorities and civil society organisations to treat drug trafficking as a national priority and pursue what it described as sustained, evidence-based and non-partisan action.