NACOC seizes five million Tramadol tablets worth GH¢100 million at Kotoka Airport, three held

Another airport interception in a widening opioid fight
Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission has intercepted an estimated five million tramadol tablets, with a street value put at roughly GH¢100 million, about 9.6 million US dollars, at Kotoka International Airport, arresting three suspects in connection with the shipment. NACOC said the seizure followed an intelligence-led operation targeting the attempted importation of the illicit pharmaceutical consignment.

What investigators believe so far
Preliminary findings indicate the consignment was intended for distribution within Ghana, with investigators also examining possible links to trafficking networks operating across the wider West African sub-region. NACOC said it suspects the seizure connects to a larger organized trafficking syndicate and has opened further investigations to identify additional individuals involved in the operation. The recovered tablets have been secured as evidence while forensic and documentary analysis continues. The three suspects are expected to be arraigned in court once the investigation concludes, in line with Ghana's narcotics laws.

Tramadol carries legitimate medical uses as a pain reliever but has become one of the most widely abused opioids in West Africa, particularly in high-dosage formulations that exceed Ghana's legal limits. NACOC renewed its appeal to the public to report suspicious activity as officer’s work to trace the remainder of the network behind the shipment.

Part of a sustained enforcement pattern
This week's bust is smaller in scale than NACOC's record tramadol interception at Tema Port in March, when officers seized nearly 147 million undeclared tablets, and follows a separate case in which Customs and Central Revenue Monitoring Team officers uncovered concealed tramadol inside a container declared as household goods, an operation that led to the arrest of nine public officers, including five Customs personnel. In late April, NACOC intercepted a 40-foot trailer carrying five million tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, a related synthetic opioid known locally as "Red," bound for Niger, arresting four suspects in what officials called one of the largest pharmaceutical drug interceptions in the country's recent history.

Marking World Drug Day in June, NACOC Director-General Brigadier General Maxwell Obuba Mantey disclosed that the Commission had made 217 arrests, secured 165 prosecutions and seized more than 8.5 tonnes of narcotics between 2025 and April 2026, a haul that included 45.4 million tramadol tablets, enough, the Commission said, to supply one opioid dose for every Ghanaian. He said NACOC's district commands had expanded from fewer than ten to 77 nationwide, that a 100-acre site had been secured at Akwamu for a dedicated NACOC training school, and that outdated scanning equipment at Kotoka International Airport was scheduled for replacement by August 2026 to improve cargo and passenger screening. Despite the scale of these operations, Mantey voiced concern that Ghana's treatment needs for opioid dependency continue to grow alongside the seizures.

A regional trafficking corridor under strain
The repeated interception of multi-million-tablet consignments moving through Ghana's ports and airport, some destined for domestic circulation, others transiting onward to Niger and other Sahelian states, underscores Accra's position as both a target market and a transit hub in a regional pharmaceutical opioid trade that has become entangled with the same trafficking networks this column has tracked financing instability further north. Tramadol diversion has long been linked to militant financing in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin, making Ghana's port and airport enforcement not merely a domestic drug policy matter but part of the wider regional security picture.

References
The Herald Ghana, "NACOC intercepts GH¢100m tramadol haul at AIA, arrests three suspects," https://theheraldghana.com/nacoc-intercepts-gh%C2%A2100m-tramadol-haul-at-aia-arrests-three-suspects/

News Ghana, "NACOC Seizes GH₵100m Tramadol At Airport," https://www.newsghana.com.gh/nacoc-seizes-gh%E2%82%B5100m-tramadol-at-airport/

MyJoyOnline, "NACOC arrests alleged Kingpin behind US$296 million meth syndicate as Ghana Marks World Drug Day," https://www.myjoyonline.com/nacoc-arrests-alleged-kingpin-behind-us296-million-meth-syndicate-as-ghana-marks-world-drug-day/

Graphic Online, "NACOC seizes five million opioid tablets in cross-border drug bust," https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/nacoc-seizes-five-million-opioid-tablets-in-major-cross-border-drug-bust.html

News Ghana, "NACOC Seizes Five Million Tapentadol Tablets Bound for Niger," https://www.newsghana.com.gh/nacoc-seizes-five-million-tapentadol-tablets-bound-for-niger/

CitiNewsroom, "5 Customs officers, 4 others arrested over undeclared tramadol seizure," https://www.citinewsroom.com/2026/03/5-customs-officers-4-others-arrested-over-undeclared-tramadol-seizure/

News Ghana, "NACOC Destroys Narcotic Drugs Worth GH¢2.5 Million in Tamale Operation," https://www.newsghana.com.gh/nacoc-destroys-narcotic-drugs-worth-gh%C2%A22-5-million-in-tamale-operation/