Drug menace: Strengthen Customs instead of adding NACOC, other agencies at ports – Kofi Bentil

Policy Analyst and Senior Vice President of IMANI Africa, Kofi Bentil, has backed the removal of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) from routine port inspections.

He argues that the Ghana Revenue Authority’s Customs Division should be allowed to perform its statutory enforcement duties.

His comments come amid renewed scrutiny of Ghana’s port inspection regime following a series of major drug seizures linked to the country, including the interception of nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine in France in September 2026.

The debate has also intensified over the reported restoration of NACOC to joint container inspections after the Commission was removed from the routine physical inspection process in 2018.

“Ghana Customs is well and able to perform their duties if left alone,” the IMANI Africa Vice President said in a social media post on Tuesday, September 22.

Bentil argued that NACOC’s mandate goes beyond waiting at ports to search containers and includes preventing and investigating illicit drug activity across the country.

He questioned the Commission’s effectiveness in tackling drugs allegedly being moved within Ghana and across other entry and exit points.

The policy analyst further alleged that interference by political authorities and other state agencies was affecting Customs’ ability to perform its duties effectively.

“I am well informed that people in power and several agencies interfere with Customs duties!! And in effect disrupt their proper operation!! Leave Customs alone!!!” he said.

Mr Bentil also argued that the involvement of several regulatory agencies in port inspections had contributed to delays and increased the burden on importers.

He cited NACOC, the Food and Drugs Authority and fumigation agencies among institutions whose activities, in his view, had affected the ease of doing business at Ghana’s ports.

This comes after President John Dramani Mahama directed security and regulatory agencies operating at the ports to harmonise their activities and submit a framework aimed at improving cargo screening and enforcement.

The directive also provides for NACOC’s restoration to the joint container inspection process, following its removal in 2018.