Ghana’s Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) lacks the personnel needed to effectively combat increasingly sophisticated drug trafficking networks and requires urgent expansion of its workforce, training and equipment, according to the Vice Chairman of Parliament’s Defence and Interior Committee.
Peter Lanchene Toobu, the Member of Parliament for Wa West, made the call on Saturday, September 19, 2026, during an appearance on Citi News Digest. His comments came in the wake of the seizure of nearly 3.9 tonnes of suspected cocaine by French customs authorities from containers shipped from Ghana.
“The total strength of NACOC is not up to 2,000. And I think that we should do better,” Mr Toobu said. “We should get men and recruit more people and train them and deploy them effectively. And they will help us to fight this menace.”
He stressed that the country must strengthen NACOC’s human resources alongside investments in technology and equipment as trafficking networks grow more advanced. “It’s no longer a joking matter. We are being stressed. Police are involved. BNI is involved. NACOC is playing the lead role. But they don’t have the numbers,” he said. “Let’s support them to have enough numbers. And let’s train them to be more effective. And let’s cooperate and collaborate as security agencies to get this task done.”
The remarks follow a major interdiction at the Port of Dunkirk in northern France, where customs officers on or around September 7–10, 2026, discovered approximately 3.9 tonnes of cocaine concealed among recycled plastic bags in a container that had departed from Ghana (part of the consignment was reportedly destined for Antwerp, Belgium). French authorities valued the drugs at nearly €225 million (about US$261 million) on the illicit market. The cocaine was later destroyed.
NACOC has described its response as intelligence-led. The Commission disclosed that some suspects linked to the shipment had been under surveillance for between one and two years before their arrest. Several people have been charged in Ghana in connection with the case, including individuals accused of facilitating the activities of Dutch fugitive Jos Leijdekkers (also known as “Bolle Jos”), who remains at large. Separate court proceedings have also involved persons linked to the Ghana Revenue Authority over the handling of container scans at Tema Port, where abnormalities were allegedly flagged but the containers were still cleared.
The staffing constraints highlighted by Mr Toobu align with earlier statements by Interior Minister Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak. In July 2026, the minister told Parliament’s Public Assurances Committee that NACOC operated in only 66 of Ghana’s 261 districts because of inadequate personnel and equipment. He said the government planned to expand the Commission’s presence nationwide over the following five to six years and noted that advanced scanning equipment was being procured for key entry points, including Kotoka International Airport, Tema and Takoradi ports, and border posts such as Elubo, Aflao, Paga and Hamile.
NACOC traces its origins to the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), established in 1990 under PNDC Law 236 to coordinate Ghana’s response to rising drug trafficking and abuse in line with United Nations conventions. In 2020, Parliament passed the Narcotics Control Commission Act (Act 1019), which repealed the earlier law and transformed NACOB into the independent Narcotics Control Commission with an expanded mandate covering enforcement, prevention, education, treatment and rehabilitation. The Commission has since intensified inter-agency coordination, including the inauguration of a Narcotics Inter-Agency Coordination Committee earlier in 2026, and has received logistical support such as vehicles. It has also conducted recruitment exercises, including the training of hundreds of new personnel in recent years.
Despite these efforts, officials have repeatedly flagged resource limitations amid evolving threats. Traffickers are reportedly exploiting
