The Narcotics Control Commission (NCC) is currently depending on sniffer dogs at the Kotoka International Airport and other ports across the country to detect narcotic substances being smuggled out, the Minister of the Interior has told Parliament.

Mohammed-Mubarak Muntaka told the House that the use of sniffer dogs had become necessary due to broken-down narcotic detection scanners at the airports. 

He explained that the dogs were being used in the interim to detect suspected narcotics substances as the government was following procurement processes to procure new detection scanners.

“Each time we see substance that looks like drug, we try to get it to laboratories to test for confirmation or otherwise,” he said. 

Assurance 

Responding to questions on the floor of Parliament today, Mr Muntaka said “So yes, I know that having the scanner, therefore, would have been an excellent one but because of this challenge, and having to go through the procurement process which is delaying, we are currently using sniffer dogs to enhance the tracking and what we call it search for possible drugs at the airports.

“I can assure my colleagues that as soon as funds are available, we will make sure that we procure narcotic detection scanners because it is so important not just for only for narcotic cases but for all other cases like people who are smuggling gold and other things that are not supposed to be smuggled,” he said.

The minister disclosed this when the Member of Parliament for Assin South, John Ntim Fordjour, expressed worry over how, given the broken-down scanners at the ports, narcotic substances could easily transit Ghana’ ports and impose a significant risk to collective fight to ensuring zero tolerance to narcotics. 

He, therefore, asked when could the ports be installed with effective and running standards to ensure our ports do not become transit points for narcotics.

He also sought to know what steps the ministry was taking to procure and install narcotic detection scanners at all critical and required checkpoints at the airports and cargo sections to replace the broken-down scanners to ensure effective narcotics control.

Budgetary provision 

Answering, the minister said body and baggage scanners were vital tools in the frontline positions of the Narcotics Control Commission, particularly at the airport, where the concealment of narcotic substances had become increasingly sophisticated. 

Unfortunately, he said the current state of the broken-down scanner at the key airport and cargo checkpoints significantly hampered effective narcotics detection and undermined national and international security efforts.

Past attempts to repair the faulty scanners, he said, were unsuccessful due to severe technical challenges and the unavailability of critical components to service and operationalise the broken-down machinery.

To remedy that, he said a cost-benefit analysis was conducted by the ministry by determining that procuring a new scanner rather than repairing obsolete equipment would be the most efficient and sustainable solution, particularly since new scanners were embedded with more robust technology that would make the detection more efficient. 

“Mr Speaker, recognising the urgency of this matter, the ministry has made dedicated budgetary provision under the security sector retooling programme to procure advanced body and baggage scanners to enhance the operations of the agency at the airport. 

“These scanners are essential not only for improving the ability of the NCC to detect and intercept illicit drugs but also for aligning Ghana's counter narcotic efforts with international best practice in airport security and trade facilitation.

Donor support 

Furthermore, he said given the global security implication of narcotic trafficking, the ministry, in collaboration with the NACOC, was actively engaging both local and international partners to mobilise additional donor support to expedite the procurement and deployment of these scanners.

Those interventions, he said, pointed to the agency with which the government and NCC were poised to achieve an effective fight against drug trafficking at Ghana’s airports and therefore demanded the immediate replacement of outdated and non-functional scanners with modern detection technology.