CORRUPTION, LACK OF RESOURCES HAMPER FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS

US State Department says corruption and lack of resources are
seriously impeding Ghana's efforts to deal with the drug menace.

It observed that the 2006 narcotics scandal involving allegations of
official complicity in narcotics trafficking complicated "Ghana's
efforts to combat the drug trade but served to focus public attention
on the growing problem".

"Ghana made limited progress in 2007 in addressing its legislative
and enforcement deficiencies brought into the public eye by the 2006
narcotics scandals, and a long road lies ahead," it stated.

These were contained in the 2008 International Narcotics Control
Strategy Report (INCSR) issued by the Bureau of International
Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs of the State Department.

It noted that the government created a special commission after the
scandal, which identified several policy recommendations to lessen
the chances of similar scandals in the future "but, to date, the
government has acted on only a handful of the recommendations".

It said Ghana's interest in attracting investment provided a good
cover for foreign drug barons to enter the country under the guise of
doing legitimate business.

According to the report, in 2007, South American traffickers reduced
their need to visit Ghana in person by increasing reliance on local
partners, thus insulating themselves from possible arrest by law
enforcement officials.

"Law enforcement officials have repeatedly raised concerns that
narcotics rings are growing in size, strength, organisation and
capacity for violence," it noted.

It expressed regret that since 1999, the Attorney-General's Office
had not acted on proposals by the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) to
amend the 1990 narcotics law to fund NACOB's operations, using a
portion of seized properties.

The report pointed out that the primary problem remained Ghana's
long, relatively unpatrolled coastline.

"Law enforcement officials report that traffickers are increasingly
exploiting Ghana's relatively unguarded and porous maritime border,
offloading large shipments at sea onto small fishing vessels which
carry the drugs to shore undetected," it said.

It, therefore, called for the enhancement of sea interdiction and the
surveillance capabilities of Ghana's security agencies to deal with
the problem of narcotic drugs in the country.

"These initiatives will require significant re-allocation of
resources and a sustained political commitment, and it remains to be
seen whether Ghanaian officials have the political will to see them
through," it noted.

The report said the narcotics were often repackaged in Ghana for
reshipment, hidden in shipping containers or air cargo, while large
shipments were also often broken up into small amounts to be hidden
on individuals travelling by passenger aircraft.

It said officials at UK airports found that the total tonnage of
trafficked narcotics seized from passengers on flights originating in
Ghana eclipsed those from Nigeria in 2006.

It said it was in partial response to that trend that the British
Government launched a programme deploying experienced U.K. customs
officers and state-of-the-art ion scan detection equipment at the
Kotoka International Airport.

"From the programme's inception in November 2006 to September 2007,
it has seized nearly 350 kg of cocaine; 2,200kg of cannabis and one
kilogramme of heroin," it said.

According to the report, there was no hard evidence that drugs
transiting Ghana contributed to any extent to the supply of drugs to
the U.S. market.