GOVERNMENT ADOPTING MEASURES TO CHECK DRUG TRAFFICKING

Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Joe Ghartey, said the
Government was adopting an integrated approach in the fight against
drug trafficking to ensure that the country did not become a safe
haven for narcotic drug traffickers.

Speaking at a press briefing on Wednesday regarding narcotic drug
trafficking, Mr. Ghartey said the measures being used were developed
after a thorough assessment and included improving relationships with
other stakeholders, intensive capacity building and constant
monitoring and evaluation.

He said the Government had taken seriously the threat of narcotics
because they destroy people, families and neighbourhoods as well as countries.

It is in this direction that steps were being taken to prosecute all
outstanding cases, review pending ones and complete ongoing cases.

In addition, efforts were also being made to explore the possibility
of prosecuting narcotic cases during the legal vacation.

Mr. Ghartey said the Government was also looking at the law on
exhibits involving narcotic drugs to see if it was possible to
destroy them immediately on arrest while keeping photos and videos as evidence.

The current law allowed exhibits to be destroyed only after the cases
have been decided. Efforts are also underway under the terrorism bill
to deny bail to suspects engaged in narcotic trafficking.

Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of the Interior, said the increasing
arrest of drug traffickers was the result of extra vigilance being
shown by the security agencies. He said the Government was doing all
it could to assist the security agencies to build on their
intelligence gathering methods to enhance information flow.

Mr. Kan-Dappah said that the report on the missing five kilograms of
Cocaine had been submitted and a decision would be made within a week.