Drug trade corroding public institutions – Catholic Bishops warn

Ghana’s Catholic bishops have warned that the country’s growing drug trade is corroding public institutions and creating opportunities for corruption, calling for urgent and coordinated national action against trafficking networks.

The Ghana Catholic Bishops’ Conference (GCBC) said the financial rewards associated with narcotics trafficking posed a particular danger to people in positions of trust, including those working in commerce, security agencies and, with “sorrow”, within the Church.

“The drug trade is not merely a criminal enterprise; it is a moral and national crisis that threatens the integrity of institutions and the future of our young people,” the bishops said in a statement issued Monday (21 September).

The conference’s warning follows the seizure by French customs authorities on September 10 of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine at Dunkirk, concealed in a container of plastic waste that had arrived from Ghana and was reportedly destined for Antwerp, Belgium.

The shipment had an estimated street value of £225 million ($305 million), according to the bishops.

Four Ghanaians have been arraigned before Ghana’s High Court over the consignment and remanded until 13 October.

They are Desmond Koranteng Curiel, also known as “Paul Kwaku Yeboah” or “Biggy”; Musah Attah, alias “Kromo”; Kweku Otoocho; and Jessica Hartog.

They face charges of conspiracy to export narcotic drugs without a licence and exportation of narcotic drugs.

The bishops stressed that the accused remain presumed innocent. Dutch national Jos Leijdekkers, also known as “Bolle Jos”, is reported to be at large.

The GCBC called for investigations to establish how such a large consignment could have passed through legitimate commercial channels and urged continued cooperation with French authorities to uncover the wider network.

Public officials implicated
The bishops cited the reported arrest in March 2026 of nine public officers over a large consignment of undeclared tramadol at Tema Port.

The officers reportedly included five Customs officials and personnel from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Port Security, the Energy Commission and the Ghana Standards Authority. They were granted police inquiry bail while investigations continued.

The conference said such cases underscored the need to examine not only those who physically transport drugs but also individuals and institutions that facilitate or protect trafficking networks.

It also criticised what it described as delays in identifying the financiers and principal traffickers behind some major seizures.

“A pattern in which couriers are prosecuted while the networks that finance them escape scrutiny is the failure any credible national response must overcome,” the bishops said.

Calls to follow the money
The GCBC urged authorities to trace the financial networks behind the drug trade, including businesses and other arrangements that could facilitate trafficking.

It called for stronger cooperation with INTERPOL and Europol to investigate transnational networks and locate wanted suspects.

The bishops also backed a parliamentary move to examine Ghana’s systems for detecting and preventing narcotics trafficking through ports, airports and borders.

More than 40 MPs have petitioned Parliament for a recall from recess under Article 112(3) of the 1992 Constitution and Order 53 of Parliament’s Standing Orders.

The proposed parliamentary scrutiny would involve the ministers responsible for the Interior, Transport and National Security, together with NACOC, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Immigration Service and National Intelligence Bureau.

The bishops described the proposed sitting as “legitimate and necessary” and urged institutions to cooperate fully and transparently.

Wider drug crisis
The GCBC said the Dunkirk seizure formed part of a broader pattern of narcotics interceptions linked to Ghana since March 2025.

It cited a 3.3-tonne cocaine seizure concealed under sand in a tipper truck at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast, another cocaine interception on the Takoradi-Cape Coast highway and suspected cocaine found in sacks of gari at a Tema Port warehouse.

It also referred to an unresolved case involving a flight from Gran Canaria, a vessel later arrested abroad with narcotics after being released following payment of a partial fine, and methamphetamine concealed in a charcoal shipment intercepted by Australian customs.

According to NACOC figures cited by the bishops, intelligence-led operations resulted in 217 arrests and 165 prosecutions, while more than 8.5 tonnes of assorted narcotics and 45.4 million tramadol tablets were intercepted during the period under review.

The bishops said the response must extend beyond enforcement to prevention, rehabilitation and education.

They called on government to strengthen coordination between the Police Service, NACOC, Customs, port authorities, the judiciary and schools, while urging Catholic parishes, schools and youth organisations to intensify drug-prevention programmes.