UN to assist Ghana to crack down on illicit drugs(Centre Spread) June 17, 2008

Story: Michael Donkor
THE government, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, is establishing units at the country’s seaports to crack down on the importation of illicit drugs into the country.
Consequently, some officials from the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) and the Police Service have been trained on how to handle the equipment to be used in tracking down containers that carry those drugs in the first phase of the project.
This came to light when a team from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime called on the Minister of the Interior, Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor, in Accra yesterday to discuss details of the operations to be carried out at the seaports.
The Senior Programme Co-ordinator, Global Container Control Programme of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Mr Keti Otterson, said Ghana was selected among three other countries because the country had been used as a drug trafficking point in recent times.
He said as part of the first phase, which would be on pilot basis, experts from the United Nations and their counterparts from Ghana would be stationed at the Tema Harbour to scan all high-risk containers that arrived in the country.
He mentioned the other three countries which would also benefit from the project as Pakistan, Equador and Senegal.
Mr Otterson said the project would also develop a communication system that would enable the experts to share information on the activities of drug barons for their possible crack down.
He said the United Nations would also send down some experts who would work with their Ghanaian counterparts to that effect.
Dr Addo-Kufuor said the government would provide accommodation and other structures as its contribution to the programme.
He said the move had become necessary because Ghana was gaining a reputation which was not good for its image in international circles.
He said the drug menace would be tackled in earnest to redeem the image of the country.