(INCB) Report was launched in Accra on Thursday with a positive
message that measures to control drug trafficking in the country were
paying off.
Mr Kweku Agyeman Manu, Deputy Minister of the Interior who
launched the Report on behalf of the Minister, noted that the number
of arrests of drug-related cases at the Airport had gone up while
arrests abroad had reduced.
This, he said, meant that the measures put in place to control
drug trafficking in the country were yielding results.He said Ghana
had demonstrated her commitment to the INCB treaties by working in
unison with the international community.Mr. Manu added that Operation
Westbridge, a partnership project between the government of Ghana and
Britain and the yet to be implemented Container Project, an agreement
with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to check the
contents of containers for drugs, were prime examples.
The report contains an analysis of the drug control situation in the
world and gives recommendations for improvements at both national and
international levels,
The report, which also draws attention of governments to gaps and
weaknesses in national control and in treaty compliance, were based on
information provided by governments and international bodies to the
INCB.
It is supplemented by detailed technical reports on narcotic
drugs, psychotropic substances and on precursor chemicals, which can
be used in the illicit manufacture of such drugs.Mr Manu said he did
not accept the extreme views of some social
commentators which suggested that government was not doing anything
about the problem of illicit drug peddling.
"We have been working very hard to put in place a more effective
narcotics control system for this country, but we are being cautious
when it comes to the final product.
"We want to get it right and therefore the limited delay in the
implementation of the various recommendations emanating from the
various workshops is necessary."
He said the government had decided to make Ghana an unattractive
destination for drug traffickers and abusers.Mr Manu said key
strategies being pursued to check drug trafficking include a new law
to ensure that no bails were given to drug-related suspects until the
cases had been determined by the courts.He said a committee had also
been set up by the government to review all drug cases on which
judgement had already been given and a legal framework to ensure that
confiscated drugs were destroyed.
Dr Joseph Bediako Asare, Member of INCB, who gave the general
overview of the global drug situation, said the drug problem in Ghana
was minimal compared to other parts of the world but there was the
need to establish a comprehensive legal framework to be fully
implemented by all the stakeholders to control trafficking.
He said Afghanistan was by far the world's largest illicit
producer of opium and was seriously endangering the aims of the
Convention and that about 2.9 million people were engaged in the drug
business with about one million drug abusers, 60,000 of whom were
under age 16.Dr Asare said in Africa, the large-scale trafficking in
cocaine was worrisome
since both the number of couriers apprehended and the volume of bulk
seizures of cocaine had increased significantly.Dr. Asare said due to
the weak interdiction capacities in Africa, drug trafficking networks
were using the region as a transit area for smuggling cocaine
from South America through Western, Central and Southern Africa with
Morocco remaining the largest producer of cannabis in Africa.
For the Americas, Dr Asare said the region continued to be used
as a major
transhipment area for cocaine from South America to North America and Europe.
Trafficking of heroine from West Asia remained a problem whereas
cannabis continued to be the largest abused drug in Europe, Dr Asare
said.Major General Richardson Baiden, Executive Secretary of the
Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), said Ghana's efforts towards
combating the drug menace were concentrated on supply and demand
reduction. He said cannabis, which was produced locally, remained the
most drug of abuse and trafficked
substance in the country.
He said heroine seizure during the year reduced compared to
previous years.The main sources were Thailand, Pakistan and Dubai but
with NACOB's commitment to work both harder and smarter with
enforcement agencies throughout the world the threat of trans-national
drug trafficking would be minimised.
Mr Daoda Toure, UNDP Resident Representative who chaired the
launch,said the eventual success in tackling the world drug problem
depended not only on appropriate legislation that was effectively
implemented, but also well-designed demand reduction programmes.
He said the programmes must be conducted by well motivated human
resources as they played a significant role in determining how
successful the programme became.
011 March 07
