The Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Major General Maxwell Obuba Mantey, has warned that international drug trafficking networks are increasingly using technology and cyberspace to expand their operations, posing a growing threat to Ghana and the wider African region.
He said the evolving tactics of criminal organisations require stronger intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement among countries to combat the trafficking of new psychoactive substances and synthetic opioids.
Maj. Gen. Mantey made the remarks yesterday at the opening of the Africa–South Asia Inter-Regional Workshop on Strengthening Cooperation Against New Psychoactive Substances and Synthetic Opioid Trafficking in Accra.
The NACOC Director-General said Ghana had already begun witnessing the use of cyberspace for narcotics trading, warning that traffickers were exploiting weaknesses in national systems to sustain cross-border criminal networks.
The Ghana Law Enforcement Advisor to the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Mr. Chip Duncan, described synthetic drugs as the world’s fastest-growing narcotics threat.
He said more than 1,200 new psychoactive substances had been identified globally, while West Africa remained the world’s largest market for diverted tramadol, with more than 180 tonnes seized annually. He also warned of the emergence of nitazenes, a synthetic opioid said to be far more potent than heroin.
The four-day workshop has brought together law enforcement agencies and experts from Africa and South Asia to strengthen intelligence sharing and regional cooperation against synthetic drug trafficking. It is being supported by the United States Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs in collaboration with the International Narcotics Control Board, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, NACOC and Ghana’s Food and Drugs Authority.
Source: www.kumasimail.com
