Lebanon cocaine bust: ‘Don’t be fooled by NACOC’s controlled delivery explanation’ – Egyapa Mercer

A former Member of Parliament for Sekondi, Andrew Egyapa Mercer, has challenged the Narcotics Control Commission’s (NACOC) explanation of the recent cocaine seizure in Lebanon, urging Ghanaians not to accept its account of the operation without demanding further answers.

He questioned why suspected accomplices in Ghana had not been arrested if the operation was indeed a controlled delivery exercise intended to dismantle the entire drug trafficking network.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s New Day programme on Tuesday, November 3, he said the public should not be misled by NACOC’s explanation.

“I'm telling you that it will make sense to me that if you were doing a controlled delivery, then you expect that you want to arrest the people in the value chain all the way to the final destination point,” he said.

The former lawmaker argued that Lebanese authorities should have allowed the suspected trafficker to proceed to the intended recipient if the objective was to identify and arrest other members of the network.

He questioned why the authorities are still looking for suspected accomplices after the passenger had been arrested at the airport.

He also cited previous drug-related arrests in Ghana, including cases around Pedro Junction, and questioned the progress of investigations into those incidents.

“Why haven't they arrested them? Why are they now looking for them? So they are throwing sand in your eyes. That's the bottom line,” he added.

The controversy follows the arrest of a Syrian national at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut on Saturday, October 31, after he arrived from Accra with suspected cocaine concealed in two pieces of luggage.

Lebanese authorities reported that 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized, describing the operation as the largest drug seizure in the airport's history.

NACOC, however, said the arrest resulted from a coordinated controlled delivery operation involving Ghanaian and Lebanese drug law enforcement authorities.

The Commission explained that the exercise was intended to identify and apprehend suspects at both ends of the supply chain while gathering intelligence to dismantle the wider transnational criminal network.