Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ACCRA2554
2005-12-16 09:49:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Accra
Cable title:  

2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY

Tags:  SNAR GH 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ACCRA 002554 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR INL, JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS,
TREASURY FOR FINCEN, DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION
CONTROL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR GH
SUBJECT: 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY
REPORT, PART I DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL DIVERSION CONTROL
- GHANA

REF: STATE 209558


I. Summary

Ghana has taken steps to combat illicit trafficking of
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and has mounted
major efforts against drug abuse. It has active enforcement,
treatment, and rehabilitation programs; however, lack of
resources remains a problem and suspected drug trafficking
by a Member of Parliament surfaced this year. Ghana-U.S.
law enforcement coordination strengthened in 2005.
Interagency coordination among Ghana's law enforcement,
however, remained a challenge and attempts to establish an
anti-corruption unit at the Customs, Excise & Preventive
Service were stalled. Ghana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug
Convention.

II. Status of Country

Ghana is increasingly a transit point for illegal drugs,
particularly cocaine from South America and heroin from
Southeast and Southwest Asia. Europe remains the major
destination, but drugs also flow to South Africa and to
North America. Accra's Kotoka International Airport (KIA)
is increasingly a focus for traffickers. Ports at Tema and
Sekondi are also used, and border posts at Aflao (Togo) and
Elubo and Sampa (Cote d'Ivoire) see significant drug
trafficking activity. In 2005, Nigerian traffickers
continued to strengthen their presence, and some South
American narcotics rings trafficking cocaine began operating
in Ghana. Trafficking has also fueled increasing domestic
drug consumption. Cannabis use is increasing in Ghana as is
local cultivation. Law enforcement officials have
repeatedly raised concerns that narcotics rings are growing
in their size, strength, organization and capacity for
violence. The government has mounted significant public
education programs, as well as cannabis crop substitution
programs. Production of precursor chemicals is not a major
problem.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004
POLICY INITIATIVES: The Narcotics Control Board (NCB)
coordinates government efforts involving counternarcotics
activities. These activities include enforcement and
control, education, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation,
and social reintegration. The NCB's counternarcotics
national strategy, the "National Plan of Action 1999/2008",
was never implemented due to lack of funding. However, in
2005 the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) financed three
projects:
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ACCRA 002554

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR INL, JUSTICE FOR OIA, AFMLS, AND NDDS,
TREASURY FOR FINCEN, DEA FOR OILS AND OFFICE OF DIVERSION
CONTROL

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR GH
SUBJECT: 2005-2006 INTERNATIONAL NARCOTICS CONTROL STRATEGY
REPORT, PART I DRUGS AND CHEMICAL CONTROL DIVERSION CONTROL
- GHANA

REF: STATE 209558


I. Summary

Ghana has taken steps to combat illicit trafficking of
narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances and has mounted
major efforts against drug abuse. It has active enforcement,
treatment, and rehabilitation programs; however, lack of
resources remains a problem and suspected drug trafficking
by a Member of Parliament surfaced this year. Ghana-U.S.
law enforcement coordination strengthened in 2005.
Interagency coordination among Ghana's law enforcement,
however, remained a challenge and attempts to establish an
anti-corruption unit at the Customs, Excise & Preventive
Service were stalled. Ghana is a party to the 1988 UN Drug
Convention.

II. Status of Country

Ghana is increasingly a transit point for illegal drugs,
particularly cocaine from South America and heroin from
Southeast and Southwest Asia. Europe remains the major
destination, but drugs also flow to South Africa and to
North America. Accra's Kotoka International Airport (KIA)
is increasingly a focus for traffickers. Ports at Tema and
Sekondi are also used, and border posts at Aflao (Togo) and
Elubo and Sampa (Cote d'Ivoire) see significant drug
trafficking activity. In 2005, Nigerian traffickers
continued to strengthen their presence, and some South
American narcotics rings trafficking cocaine began operating
in Ghana. Trafficking has also fueled increasing domestic
drug consumption. Cannabis use is increasing in Ghana as is
local cultivation. Law enforcement officials have
repeatedly raised concerns that narcotics rings are growing
in their size, strength, organization and capacity for
violence. The government has mounted significant public
education programs, as well as cannabis crop substitution
programs. Production of precursor chemicals is not a major
problem.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 2004
POLICY INITIATIVES: The Narcotics Control Board (NCB)
coordinates government efforts involving counternarcotics
activities. These activities include enforcement and
control, education, prevention, treatment, rehabilitation,
and social reintegration. The NCB's counternarcotics
national strategy, the "National Plan of Action 1999/2008",
was never implemented due to lack of funding. However, in
2005 the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) financed three

projects: 1)the upgrade of a rehabilitation and treatment
center run by REMAR, a Spanish non-governmental
organization; 2) training of judges and officials of the
Narcotics Control Board, Ghana Police, the Customs, Excise &
Preventive Service and other agencies to combat
transnational organized crime, including narcotics and
associated financial crimes; and 3) a survey to measure the
prevalence of drug abuse and its correlation to HIV/AIDS in
Ghana. Each year since 1999, the NCB has proposed to amend
the 1990 narcotics law to allow stricter application of bail
bond system (i.e., no general granting of bail when flight
is a real possibility; higher sureties to assure that
defendants appear for trial) and to fund NCB operations
using a portion of seized proceeds, but the Attorney
General's office has not acted on these proposals. The NCB
also called for amendment of PNDC Law 236 (1990) to enable
it to confiscate property and assets purchased by identified
drug dealers using illegal proceeds.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Figures for 2005 show an 11 percent
increase in narcotics arrests (782 for January through
September 2005 compared to 705 for the same period in 2004).
More than 80 percent of these arrests are for cannabis.
Despite the upward trend in arrests, the amount of cocaine
seized remained steady while that of heroin dropped to one
tenth of its 2004 level. The NCB said narcotics rings find
trafficking cocaine to Europe easier and more profitable
than obtaining heroin from the Far East and trafficking it
to the U.S. The Ghana Police Service's campaign to destroy
cannabis farms in the Upper East and Eastern Regions
accounted for a nearly 18-fold increase in seizures in 2005.
Overall, 2005 saw the highest number of drug trafficking
arrests on record. The NCB and other law enforcement
agencies continued their successful cooperation with U.S.
law enforcement agencies in 2005, sharing information, as
well as extraditing American citizen Carmella Warren, who
had previously escaped imprisonment in Ghana. In turn, Ghana
extradited two Ghanaian citizens, Elizabeth Owusu Manu and
Evans Kwesi Atta, to be tried in the United States for
narcotics offenses. The January 2004 interception of 588
kilograms of cocaine in Tema, Ghana's major port city about
20 km from the capital city, represents one of the best
examples of interagency cooperation between the Narcotics
Control Board, the Ghana Police Service, and British
intelligence. Each of the six suspects, five of whom were
foreign nationals, were convicted in October 2004 and
sentenced to no less than 10 years' imprisonment. In one of
the largest drug busts of 2005, Ghana Police arrested two
suspected narcotics ring members claiming Venezuelan
citizenship on November 12 in Mpaesem, Ghana. The police
seized 580 kilograms of cocaine.
The NCB's national drug education efforts continued in
schools and churches, heightening citizens' awareness of the
fight against narcotics and traffickers. In 2005, the NCB
continued broadcasting TV programs to explain narcotics'
effects on the human body, individual users and society,
which are being broadcast on state television in local
languages. On June 26, the NCB organized an event in Cape
Coast to highlight drug abuse in Ghana in conjunction with
the UN's International Day Against Drug Abuse and
Trafficking. In October and November 2004, using Department
of State funding, U.S. Department of Justice ICITAP trainers
conducted a four-week counternarcotics training course in
Ghana for thirty officers from the Ghana Narcotics Control
Board, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Immigration Service, the
Customs and Excise Protective Service, and the Ghana Civil
Aviation Authority. The train-the-trainer program, conducted
in two 2-week sessions, focused mainly on drug interdiction
at air and seaports and was declared highly successful and
received widespread press coverage. In 2005, 13 security
agency officials also attended training in narcotics
enforcement operations and airport and seaport interdiction
at the Regional Drug Law Enforcement Training Center in Jos,
Nigeria. In August 2005, the U.S. government signed an
agreement to provide Ghana's law enforcement agencies with
an additional $200,000 in assistance to fight narcotics
trafficking.
LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFORTS: In 2005, Ghanaian law enforcement
agencies continued to conduct joint police/NCB operations
against narcotics cultivators, traffickers, and abusers. NCB
agents, who are not armed, rely upon the police's Criminal
Investigative Division's (CID) narcotics unit in situations
requiring armed force. The Ghana Police Service has
assigned several investigators to narcotics cases, holds
suspects in its cells and prepares such cases for docket.
The NCB continued to work with DHL, UPS, and Federal Express
to intercept packages containing narcotics.
The NCB reported that from January to September 2005 arrests
rose by 40 percent for cocaine and 20 percent for cannabis
compared to the same period the prior year. Meanwhile,
arrests for heroin dropped to nearly one-third of their 2004
level. (See "Accomplishments" regarding trends in
seizures.)
The NCB reported that prices of cocaine, heroin and cannabis
remained steady. In 2005, a gram of cocaine sold for cedis
168,350 ($18.50 at the current exchange rate). A cocaine
booster sold for cedis 12,000 ($1.32),while crack cocaine
sold for cedis 5,000 ($.55). A gram of heroin sold for cedis
145,600 ($16). A heroin booster sold for cedis 10,000
($1.10). The price of a small parcel of cannabis in 2005 was
approximately cedis 5,000 ($.55),while a wrapper or joint
sold for cedis 1,000 ($.11). Successful interdiction efforts
increased these prices temporarily, but the NCB said they
fluctuated near this level throughout the year.
CORRUPTION: Despite the regular arrests of suspected
narcotics traffickers, Ghana has an extremely low rate of
conviction, which law enforcement officials indicate is
likely due to corruption within the judicial system. The
backlog of cases pending trial and the limited resources
facing the judiciary remain problems in controlling drug
trafficking in Ghana.
The Customs, Excise & Prevention Service (CEPS) says finding
a location away from its headquarters, a search that had
been underway for several months at the time of this report,
has kept it from establishing an internal affairs unit.
On October 9, a supervisor of KIA's cargo handling company
was arrested attempting to smuggle cocaine using an airport
tractor and his unusual access to an airplane. Media outlets
alleged that this occurred with either the approval or the
involvement of ruling party officials.
On November 11, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
officers arrested Eric Amoateng, a Member of Ghana's
Parliament, during the seizure of 62 kilograms of heroin.
Amoateng has been provisionally charged and arraigned and is
expected to face trial on drug trafficking charges in the
U.S. NCB officials complain that courts often release
suspected smugglers, including foreign nationals, on bail
that is often set at only a tiny fraction of the value of
the drugs found in a suspect's possession. The court
requirement of a surety in addition to bail is often either
dropped, or court registrars will fraudulently use the
identical property as surety for multiple cases.
In September 2004, the NCB was held in contempt of court for
withholding the passports of suspects charged with drug
trafficking who had been released on bail. The NCB retained
the passports while they waited for the Attorney General to
file a request not to permit bail, which was ultimately
never filed. The NCB eventually had to turn over the
passports on a court order. At least one of the suspects in
this case, a Ghanaian citizen possessing a Dutch passport,
has since traveled in and out of Ghana while on bail. In
August 2005, the Attorney General's office filed an appeal
to protest a retiring judge's acquittal of two of these
suspected traffickers.
In 2004 and 2005, there were no cases of alleged evidence
tampering. In August 2004, four police officers were
arraigned and charged with taking bribes from drug
traffickers in October 2001. On April 30, the Ghana Police
interdicted two policemen who allegedly facilitated a
suspected Nigerian drug trafficker's escape from custody.
On May 27, the Ghana Police Criminal Investigations Division
took into custody two suspected traffickers and four
policemen who allegedly demanded a $60,000 bribe to release
the traffickers when they first encountered them with
narcotics. On June 14, all six were granted bail.
AGREEMENTS AND TREATIES: Ghana is a party to the 1988 UN
Drug Convention, the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic
Substances, and the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic
Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol. U.S.-Ghana
extradition relations are governed by the 1931 U.S.-U.K.
Extradition Treaty. Additionally, Ghana is a member of the
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol
Agreement, which includes an extradition provision among
member states. In 2003, Ghana signed a bilateral Customs
Mutual Assistance Agreement with the United States.
CULTIVATION AND PRODUCTION: Cannabis (also known as Indian
hemp) is widely cultivated in rural farmlands. The Volta,
Brong/Ahafo, Western, and Ashanti regions are principal
growing areas. Most is consumed locally; some is trafficked
to neighboring and European countries. Cannabis is usually
harvested in September and October, and law enforcement
teams increase their surveillance and investigation efforts
at these times. In 2005, combined NCB and police teams
continued to investigate cannabis production and
distribution, and to destroy cultivated cannabis farms and
plants. In October 2005, a joint-operation between the NCB
and police destroyed three acres of cannabis in Akatsi and
took two Ghanaians and two Jamaicans into custody. In
February 2003, the NCB implemented a pilot program designed
to reduce the area under cultivation, under which 140
marijuana cultivators volunteered to give up marijuana in
exchange for government assistance with planting and
processing new food crops and immunity from prosecution. The
NCB expanded the program from 120 farmers in 2004 to 325 in

2005. The Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs also
donated two cassava processing plants to the Essam, Eastern
Region community to provide alternative income to farmers
growing cannabis.
DRUG FLOW/TRANSIT: Cocaine and heroin are the main drugs
that transit Ghana. Cocaine is sourced mainly from South
America and destined for Europe, while heroin comes mainly
from Southeast and Southwest Asia on its way to Europe and
North America. Cannabis is shipped primarily to Europe,
specifically to the United Kingdom. Narcotics are sometimes
repackaged in Ghana for reshipment, and the most lucrative
concealment method uses carry-on, wheeled luggage. Drug
traffickers have grown increasingly inventive. In November
2004, British Customs and Excise seized 23 kilograms of
cocaine hidden in live snails from Ghana at London's
Heathrow Airport. Investigators have found cocaine packed as
fish and packaged cannabis concealed in smocks and sacks of
processed cassava.
Although there is no hard evidence that drugs transiting
Ghana contribute significantly to the supply of drugs to the
U.S. market, there are indications that direct shipments to
the United States are on the rise. Accra is an increasingly
important transshipment point from Africa. In November 2004,
two alleged leaders of a drug smuggling ring from Ghana were
indicted in Columbus, Ohio for shipping heroin for
distribution across central Ohio, indicating a direct flow
of illicit narcotics from Ghana into the U.S. Midwest. The
November 11 arrest of a Ghanaian parliamentarian indicated a
similar flow of heroin to the New York area. In the past,
direct flights from Accra played an important role in the
transshipment of heroin to the U.S. by West African
trafficking organizations. In July 2004, the Federal
Aviation Administration banned Ghana's only direct flights
to the United States for safety reasons. However, this did
not appear to reduce the trafficking of drugs between the
two countries. Instead, drug traffickers rerouted the flow
through Europe, according to the NCB. On October 9, the NCB
arrested a cargo handling supervisor attempting to smuggle
12 kilograms of cocaine through the country's sole
international airport. Combined with almost weekly arrests
of mules and airline complaints, this arrest raises concerns
about the volume of narcotics transited by air through
Ghana. The NCB reports that narcotics air transit through
Ghana has reduced somewhat in favor of land routes to
Abidjan, largely due to the break down of law and order in
Cote d'Ivoire, which favors narcotics traffickers. The
biggest challenge in Ghana, however, is the unpatrolled
coastline.
DOMESTIC PROGRAMS: The NCB works with schools, professional
training institutions, churches, local governments, and the
general public to reduce local drug consumption. The
Ministries of Health and Education further coordinate their
efforts through their representatives on the Board. Board
Members and staff frequently host public lectures,
participate in radio discussion programs, and encourage
newspaper articles on the dangers of drug abuse and
trafficking. Ghana observed the International Day Against
Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking on June 26, in Cape
Coast, Central Region. Although treatment programs have
lagged behind preventative education and enforcement due to
lack of funding, there are three government psychiatric
hospitals receiving drug patients, and three private
facilities in Accra, run by local NGOs, also assisting drug
abusers.
IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs
U.S. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES: The USG's counternarcotics and
anticrime goals in Ghana are to strengthen Ghanaian law
enforcement capacity generally, to improve interdiction
capacities, to enhance the NCB's office and field operation
functions, and to reduce Ghana's role as a transit point for
narcotics.
BILATERAL COOPERATION: In 2002, the United States provided
the Government of Ghana counternarcotics assistance in the
form of surveillance and detection equipment, worth $64,000,
including two narcotics detection devices ("Itemizers")
installed at Kotoka International Airport in December 2003.
Similar equipment funded in FY 2000 and FY 2001 is
effectively maintained and has facilitated a number of drug
arrests and seizures. Funding provided in FY 2002 for
training for the Police will continue to assist in
suppressing corruption and strengthening the capacity of the
police to interdict illegal drugs. A four-week, interagency
counternarcotics training course, funded by the U.S. in FY
2002 and focused on drug interdiction at Ghana's air and
seaports, took place in November 2004. Future assistance,
committed in August 2005, will focus on advanced narcotics
investigations skills, airport interdiction and financial
crimes investigations.
THE ROAD AHEAD: The USG's major policy goals are improved
narcotics interdiction, investigative capabilities, and
prosecutorial successes. Tougher confiscation provisions,
with a portion of such resources dedicated to fighting
narcotics trafficking, would strengthen Ghana's anti-
narcotics regime. Better oversight of financial
transactions is particularly important given the potential
for any narcotics financial networks to be used by terrorist
organizations or for internal corruption.
PAMELA E. BRIDGEWATER