US$20 Million for a Tip: What the NACOC Informant Case Says About Ghana's Fight Against Drugs ‎

Intelligence is the cheapest weapon in the fight against narcotics. A single reliable tip can lead officers to a consignment that would take months of surveillance to find. This is why a story from the Interior Minister has caught attention. A man who claimed to know where a large shipment of drugs was hidden asked the state for US$20 million in exchange for telling it.

What the minister said
Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on Monday, October 12, Interior Minister Mubarak Mohammed Muntaka disclosed that an informant had recently demanded US$20 million from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) in return for information that could lead to a "huge" drug bust.

According to the minister, the person approached the NACOC Director and offered to lead the commission to a large drug consignment if the money was paid. He asked how any informant could make such a demand given the commission's budget, and said the state does not have unlimited resources.

Mr Muntaka stressed that the government is not against paying informants. It is ready to pay those whose information proves credible, provided the demands are reasonable and within what the institutions can afford.

He added that authorities can assist informants with reasonable expenses, including transport. He also said that since he took office, several people have come to him with information about suspected illegal activity, and some have asked for money in return.

According to the minister, the demand led to the loss of a possible major seizure. One report summarized the case as a possible major drug seizure that fell through after an informant asked NACOC for US$20 million.

What we do not know
These facts come from one source, the minister, speaking in a radio interview. The informant has not been named, and NACOC has not, as far as I could find, given its own account. We do not know whether the consignment existed, how large it was, or whether the informant had real access to it.

The word "huge" is the minister's description. Journalists and readers should keep that in mind before drawing firm

conclusions.
Why informants ask for large sums
Anyone who has covered security knows that informants take real risks. Drug trafficking networks are violent.

A person who leads the state to a consignment may face threats, may have to leave home, and may never be able to return. For such a person, a request for money is not always greed. It can be an attempt to buy safety, relocation and a new life.

The reverse is also true. Informants have their own motives. Some are rivals of the traffickers they expose. Some are members of the network who see a chance to profit twice, once from the trade and once from the tip.

Some simply see a government that is serious about drugs and decide to test how much it will pay. An unregulated market for tips attracts all of these, and officers cannot easily tell them apart.

The real problem: no clear price list
The minister's complaint points to a deeper gap. If the state is willing to pay but the informant does not know what is on offer, each case becomes a bargaining session. One side has a story to sell and the other has a limited budget. That is a poor basis for building trust.

Other systems handle this differently. Reward schemes elsewhere tie payments to the value recovered. A petition in India, for instance, argues that official guidelines entitle an informer to up to 20 percent of the duty evaded, plus fines and penalties.

That is one person's claim in a tax case, not a model for Ghana, but it shows the principle: publish the formula, and informants can see what they will receive. The case also shows the danger when a reward system is opaque, since the same petitioner says he waited years and received a payment with no explanation.

For Ghana, I would suggest four steps.
Publish a reward policy. Informants should know the categories of reward, the rough range, and who decides. A scale linked to the street value of seized drugs, capped by law, would remove most of the haggling.

Separate tipsters from protected witnesses.

A person who simply passes on information needs a quick, modest payment. A person whose life is at risk needs a protection and relocation programme. Mixing the two forces people to ask for a large cash sum to cover everything.

Protect the money from abuse. Rewards should be approved by more than one officer, paid after verification, and audited. Otherwise payments can be diverted, or officers can be accused of inventing informants.

Build trust before the crisis. People share information when they believe they will be protected and paid fairly. That belief is built over years, through cases where informants were treated well and their identities were kept secret.

The wider picture
The minister also said that Ghana is making progress in identifying and arresting people suspected of drug-related offences. The informant case shows that progress depends on the public. Citizens cannot be asked to help unless the state makes it safe and worthwhile.

A request for US$20 million may well have been excessive. But the right response is not only a public appeal for moderation. It is a clear, funded and trusted system that makes the next informant think twice before bargaining and consider simply coming forward.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880.

References
Adom Online. (2026). Informant's $20m demand cost NACOC a possible big drug bust – Interior Minister. https://www.adomonline.com/informants-20m-demand-cost-nacoc-a-possible-big-drug-bust-interior-minister/

MyJoyOnline. (2026, October). Informant demanded $20 million from NACOC for information on major drug consignment – Muntaka. https://myjoyonline.com/informant-demanded-20-million-from-nacoc-for-information-on-major-drug-consignment-muntaka

ModernGhana. (2026, October). 'Stop excessive financial demands before sharing information with us' – Interior Minister. https://www.modernghana.com/news/1535519/stop-excessive-financial-demands-before-sharing.amp

A2Z Tax Corp. (n.d.). Informer demands 20% cut in Rs 23 crore tax evasion case, moves Bombay High Court after 10 years (reporting Times Now). https://a2ztaxcorp.net/informer-demands-20-cut-in-rs-23-crore-tax-evasion-case-moves-bombay-high-court-after-10-years/