In Ghana, we think cocaine is someone else’s problem.
Because it does not grow here.
Because the boys who smoke it are in Osu and East Legon.
Because the seizures are at Tema Port, not in our house.
We are wrong.
Cocaine money is not a drug problem. It is a governance problem. It is a security problem. It is a justice problem.
One cocaine container that passes through Ghana — like the 3.9 tonnes that left Ghana in plastic waste and was seized in Dunkirk, France — is worth €225 million. That is over 3.5 billion Ghana Cedis.
With 3.5 billion cedis, you don’t just buy a car. You buy a country.
Let us follow the money. This is how it destroys Ghana step by step.
1. DRUG MONEY BUYS GUNS — GUNS BRING ARMED ROBBERY
A drug cartel cannot protect €225 million worth of cocaine with a kitchen knife. It needs AK-47s. It needs pistols. It needs ammunition.
So they bring guns into Ghana.
But when a cocaine deal goes wrong — when a courier steals, when a shipment is seized at Pedu Junction — those same guns don’t go back to Colombia. They stay in Ghana.
They are rented out. They are sold to armed robbers in Kasoa, to land guards in Ashaiman, to highway robbers on the Kintampo-Buipe road.
That is why today, armed robbery in Ghana is no longer with a locally-made pistol. It is with AK-47s that spray bullets. The guns that entered to protect cocaine are now pointed at market women at 4am at Kaneshie, at mobile money vendors in Kumasi.
We imported cocaine as transit. We kept the guns.
2. DRUG MONEY BUYS POLICE — BOUGHT POLICE MEANS NO JUSTICE
A policeman in Ghana earns about 3,000 to 5,000 cedis a month. He has rent to pay. He has children in school. He stands at a barrier for 12 hours in the rain.
Then a drug baron passes with a tipper truck full of sand, and inside that sand is 3.3 tonnes of cocaine. He whispers: “Boss, take 50,000 dollars and let the truck pass.”
50,000 dollars is 800,000 cedis. That is 15 years salary.
Some will refuse. Some will take it.
And the day a policeman takes drug money, justice dies.
Because tomorrow when you are robbed, you will go to the police station to report. But the police car has no fuel. The docket has disappeared. The investigator says “come tomorrow.” Not because he is lazy, but because the big cases — the drug cases that would have given the station fuel, equipment, promotion — have been bought and closed.
A police bought by drug money does not investigate drug money. He investigates goats and stolen phones. The real criminals walk.
3. DRUG MONEY BUYS POLITICIANS — BOUGHT POLITICIANS MEANS LAWS ARE NOT ENFORCED
Elections in Ghana are expensive. To win an MP seat, you need 2 to 5 million cedis. To win a presidential campaign, you need hundreds of millions.
Where does that money come from? Sometimes, from drug money.
The baron does not give you money for free. He says: “Help me when I have a problem at the port.”
So when he is appointed as Minister, when he becomes Chairman of a Committee, he makes one phone call: “Release that container. It is for my party man.”
Suddenly NACOC officers are removed from physical inspection at the port. Suddenly scanners at Kotoka Airport are not working for 3 years and nobody is punished. Suddenly a port official whose contract should end gets his contract renewed.
The law is still in the books. Act 1019 says 10 years for trafficking. But the law is not enforced. Because the enforcer was bought before he was appointed.
This is how Colombia fell. Pablo Escobar did not start by bombing judges. He started by buying politicians who would say “Leave him alone.”
4. DRUG MONEY BUYS JUDGES, LAWYERS, INVESTIGATORS — BOUGHT JUSTICE MEANS NO GHANA
This is the last stage. The most dangerous.
When a drug case finally reaches court — after police have been bought, after politicians have interfered — the docket still has to go to court.
The baron has 3.5 billion cedis. He can buy:
A lawyer: The best lawyer in Accra, who will file 15 adjournments, challenge the search, say the 866 parcels of gari were not properly tested, say the chain of custody was broken. Case delayed for 5 years.
An investigator: The investigator who is supposed to bring the evidence to court. He is given a house at East Legon Hills. He loses the original test result. He says “the exhibit has finished” or “the exhibit got mixed up.”
A judge: Not all judges. Ghana has many honest judges. But one corrupt judge is enough. One judge who grants bail for 100,000 cedis to a man caught with 3.3 tonnes of cocaine. One judge who says “The prosecution has not proven beyond reasonable doubt” because the evidence was deliberately destroyed by a bought investigator.
When that happens, the people stop believing in justice.
And when people stop believing in justice, they take machetes into their own hands. They do instant justice at Alajo. They lynch suspected thieves at Kasoa. Because they know if they take him to police, drug money will free him.
THE LESSON FROM LATIN AMERICA TO KANESHIE
Ask Ecuador. In 2018, Ecuador was a peaceful transit country like Ghana. It said “Cocaine does not grow here.”
Today Ecuador is one of the most violent countries in the world. Because drug money bought guns, bought police, bought politicians, bought judges. Now cartels run prisons and behead mayors.
Ask Guinea-Bissau. A small West African country like Ghana. Drug money bought the army. They had coups every year.
Ghana is at that junction now.
The 3.9 tonnes in Dunkirk, the 3.3 tonnes at Pedu Junction, the 866 parcels in gari at Tema, the 320kg meth in charcoal to Australia — these are not isolated seizures. They are signs that our system has been penetrated.
SO WHAT SHOULD GHANA DO?
This is not about NDC or NPP. Drugs don’t know party colours.
1. Protect the low-paid officer: Pay our port officers, police, NACOC officers well. Give them insurance, housing, and a reward system for big seizures. A hungry policeman is easy to buy.
2. Public asset declaration for port officials: Every officer at Tema Port, Swissport, NACOC, NIB who touches a container must declare assets every year. If your salary is 5,000 cedis and you build a 6-bedroom at Trasacco in one year, explain.
3. No more secret investigations: When 3.9 tonnes leave Ghana, we need a public parliamentary inquiry, live on TV. Not a closed-door task force. The people must see who failed.
4. Fast-track drug courts: Drug cases must be heard within 90 days, by vetted judges, with daily trials. No adjournments. No lost exhibits.
Drug money does not just get you high.
Drug money buys guns and brings armed robbery to your door.
Drug money buys police and there is no justice when you are robbed.
Drug money buys politicians and laws are not enforced.
Drug money buys judges, lawyers, investigators and there is no Ghana left to protect.
We must stop it at the port, before it stops Ghana.