COCAINE IS REAL THREAT TO DEMOCRACY - POKU RAISES ALARM

The Minister for National Security, Mr Francis Kwaku Poku, yesterday
sounded the alarm that the large quantities of narcotics being
trafficked into Ghana could destabilise the country's democratic institutions.

He said there was real fear that drug barons could infiltrate the
Legislature, Judiciary and political parties and that could
destabilise all the democratic institutions.

Mr Poku sounded the alarm when he gave evidence before the Justice
Georgina Wood Committee, and urged all Ghanaians to deal with the
cocaine issue in a non-partisan manner.

"I will appeal to all political, religious, pressure groups and the
youth of the country to lend their unqualified support to the
security and law enforcement agencies in the fight against the evil
menace of illicit drugs," he said.

According to the minister, he offered to appear before the committee
to address a number of issues arising out of the work of the
committee which he considered to be of security importance.

He explained that he pleaded for a public hearing to allow Ghanaians
to be aware of certain dangers confronting the nation as a result of
the threat arising from the importation and exportation of illicit drugs.

Delivering what appeared to be a prepared text, in about 75 minutes,
Mr Poku said the security agencies were monitoring many drug-related
crimes and social vices such as occultism, gangsterism and
prostitution, extending even to the universities.

He said they were also monitoring cases of the youth dying as a
result of swallowing cocaine-laden pellets in the process of
trafficking the drug to Europe and other parts of the world.

Mr Poku said there was the real fear that given the large scale of
drugs being targeted at Ghana, political parties could be infiltrated
by drug barons.

"Only political parties? So you have no concern for the Judiciary
where I work?", the chairperson chipped in, drawing laughter from the audience.

Mr Poku agreed with the chairperson and added that "I've given these
examples to alert Ghanaians to the fact that what we are doing here
is a serious issue that must be dealt with on non-partisan basis."

He told the committee about measures the security agencies had put in
place, as far as national security would allow, to fight the cocaine dangers.

The minister said more than one year ago, the security agencies
received intelligence that drug syndicates operating from some
specific countries were targeting Ghana as a destination for drugs.

He said the intelligence also indicated that the syndicates were
helping some Ghanaians to acquire boats with which they would offload
drugs from vessels and transport them to various locations in the
country in transit to the European markets.

Mr Poku said upon receipt of the intelligence, the National Security
Council (NSC), which was chaired by the President, took various
measures, such as the alertness of all the security agencies at the
points of entry and an exercise to search containers, especially at the ports.

Furthermore, the Ghana Immigration Service (GIS) was asked to
co-ordinate with the other security agencies to check the backgrounds
of applicants for visa.

He said the security agencies also initiated intelligence
co-operation with countries in Africa and Europe, while undertaking
other surveillance measures.

Focusing on the MV Benjamin cocaine issue, Mr Poku said when the
vessel sailed from its country of origin, intelligence on its
movement was received.

He said in an attempt to deceive the security agencies, the name of
the vessel was changed from MV Benjamin to MV Adede at high seas only
to be restored to its original name just before it berthed at Tema.

Mr Poku said information was passed on to the Ghana Airforce, which
successfully located the vessel and later informed the Ghana Navy.

He said a collaboration between the Ghana Navy and the Narcotics
Control Board (NACOB) led to the interception of the suspected drugs
on the vessel, adding that the President was briefed about the
progress of the operation and he (President) gave his full support to it.

Mr Poku said the NSC was informed that the Ghana Navy and NACOB had
succeeded in evacuating a consignment of substances believed to be
drugs and that three persons had been arrested.

He said the NSC was, however, told later that some unidentified
persons had succeeded in diverting most of the consignments.

It was also alleged, he added, that later, a harvester containing 30
slabs of cocaine weighing 30 kilogrammes was discovered on board MV
Benjamin but indicated that five kilogrammes were missing from the
Exhibits Store of NACOB.

Mr Poku said with the approval of the President and the Minister of
the Interior, he (Poku) set up a three-member committee to
investigate the matters arising out of the co-operation.

According to Mr Poku, the committee reported within one week and
submitted copies of its report to the President, the Minister of the
Interior and the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice for legal advice.

He said his attention had been drawn to a tape recording in
circulation on matters relating to MV Benjamin and the operation, as
well as a meeting at the residence of the Director-General of
Operations of the Ghana Police Service, ACP Kofi Boakye, on matters
relating to the MV Benjamin operation.

"To the best of my knowledge, the President did not have a copy of
the tape", he claimed, explaining that in his own experience in
dealing with the President, all security-related materials, documents
of security interest that reached him (President) were handed over to
him (Poku) as the national security head as soon as possible.

"And in this instance, I can confirm that the President requested the
security agencies to endeavour to obtain a copy of the tape.

A tape was obtained by the Minister of the Interior from a
journalist. However, when it was transcribed, it was found to be a
very short version and contained not much information of security
interest", he said.

Mr Poku denied that ACP Boakye notified him before his meeting with
the suspected drug dealers as was being speculated by a section of the media.

"I remember, however, that ACP Kofi Boakye mentioned to me that he
had met certain persons sometime in April, who appeared to know of
the drugs that were diverted by unknown persons at the port of Tema",
he submitted.

Mr Poku said he advised ACP Boakye to contact a committee that he had
set up to make any information available to it.

Turning to the East Legon cocaine case, the National Security
Minister said the NSC was informed sometime in November 2005 that the
CID had arrested two Venezuelans at East Legon in Accra in connection
with the discovery of 588 parcels of substances suspected to be narcotic drugs.

He said everything appeared to be going well in the investigations
until Ms Grace Asibi publicly alleged that Supt Edward Tabiri, the
then Head of the Rapid Response Unit of the CID, had extorted
$170,000 from her.

Mr Poku said in consultation with the Minister of the Interior, he
set up a task force to investigate the bribery allegation against Supt Tabiri.

He said a copy of their report was submitted to the Minister of the Interior.

Mr Poku said in view of the extraordinary local and international
interest that the two cases had generated, the President approved the
setting up of the Georgina Wood Committee to sit in public and give
opportunity to all Ghanaians with information to be able to testify.

At the end of his testimony, the chairperson opened the floor for
cross-examination but counsel for ACP Boakye did not find the need to
do so because they believed that the evidence given by Mr Poku
corroborated what they had given earlier at the committee.

Supt Tabiri and Ms Asibi and their counsel were not present to make
any cross-examination.