NACOC arrests surged from 73 in 2024 to 217 in 2025 under NDC – Majority defend anti-drug fight

The Majority in Parliament has pointed to a sharp rise in drug-related arrests recorded by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) as evidence of intensified efforts by the government to combat narcotics trafficking and distribution.

Majority Leader and Builsa North MP James Agalga said the Commission recorded significantly more arrests in 2025 than in 2024, when the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration was in office.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, September 24, Mr Agalga said NACOC made 217 arrests across 165 cases in 2025, compared with 73 arrests recorded nationwide in 2024.

He said the figures represented a 197% increase in arrests and described the 2025 enforcement record as the Commission’s most productive year under the current administration.

“In 2024, the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) recorded 73 arrests nationwide. Then the Commission’s most productive enforcement year on record under this government. NACOC enforcement operations in 2025 produced 217 arrests across 165 cases, an increase of 197 percent.

"So let’s compare the figures, 73 arrests versus 217 arrests across 165 cases. And in percentage terms, we are looking at a 197 percent increase between the arrests effected in 2024 and the arrests effected in 2025.”

Mr Agalga said the increase in arrests reflected what the Majority described as a stronger enforcement response to the trafficking and distribution of narcotic substances across the country.