The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) is working to identify and arrest individuals in Ghana suspected of helping a Syrian national who was arrested in Lebanon with a large quantity of cocaine allegedly flown from Accra.
The suspect was arrested on Saturday, October 31, at Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut after arriving from Accra with cocaine concealed in two pieces of luggage.
According to NACOC, the arrest followed a controlled delivery operation conducted in collaboration with Lebanese drug enforcement authorities to identify individuals involved in the shipment and trace the wider drug trafficking network.
While NACOC initially reported that about 40 kilogrammes of suspected cocaine had been seized, Lebanese Customs put the total weight at 46.7 kilogrammes, packaged in 40 separate parcels.
In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by its Acting Director of Public Affairs and International Relations, Francis Opoku Amoah, NACOC said the operation was designed to identify suspects at both ends of the supply chain and gather intelligence on those involved.
The Commission has not disclosed whether any arrests have been made in Ghana so far.
Lebanese Customs identified the suspect only by his initials, B.H., and said he arrived in Beirut aboard Middle East Airlines flight MEA 576.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspect had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing from Syria several weeks earlier before travelling to Accra and subsequently returning to Beirut with the drugs.
Lebanese authorities said the cocaine was concealed using special packaging and insulation materials intended to prevent detection by airport scanners. Electronic tracking devices were also reportedly discovered inside the packages.
Investigators in Lebanon are now working to establish the identity of the intended recipient of the shipment, while NACOC continues efforts to track down the alleged Ghanaian accomplices.
The development comes shortly after Ghana deported a South Korean man in his 80s who was accused of involvement in the shipment of more than five tonnes of cocaine off the coast of South America. The man had reportedly lived in Ghana for 22 years without legal immigration status.
