The training will also aid the 40 delegates from Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone who are participating in the four-day intensive course to foster regional and inter-agency cooperation in maritime security.

The ‘Search of Container Course’ training, which began in Accra last Tuesday, is being facilitated by officials from the Customs and Drugs Agency of the United Kingdom (UK) and will provide participants with comprehensive knowledge on container control at the ports of entry in ways that will enable them to detect contraband products, especially illicit drugs.

The course content has been selected to address the evolving trend in illicit drug trafficking via containers, with areas being covered being health and safety, types of containers and vulnerabilities, seal manipulation and image interpretation.

The rest are trends and mode of concealment, intelligence-led and rule-based targeting, insider threat and anti-corruption measures.

Commendation

The acting Director-General of NACOC, Mr Kenneth Adu-Amanfoh, commended the governments of Ghana and the UK for organising the training in Accra and for law enforcement officers.

“Illicit drug trafficking is a transnational organised crime which requires effective and efficient international collaboration to combat and dismantle complex international criminal syndicates,” he said.

He said West Africa had had its fair share of being continuously exploited as a transit point for the trafficking of illicit drugs from Latin America to Europe and North America.

He said it was imperative, therefore, that customs and port control officers were equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge to profile and target suspicious consignments, including the expertise to examine and effect drug seizures.

According to Mr Adu-Amanfoh, the commission had, in September 2020, intercepted 152kg of cocaine concealed in sugar containers from Brazil.

“Having perused the course content, I have no doubt that by the close of this course, participants will be equipped with the requisite skills and technical know-how in seaport drug interdiction,” he said.

He entreated the participants to pay attention and also have an open mind to engage, learn and share knowledge.

Expectations

The British High Commissioner to Ghana, Ms Harriet Thompson, expressed the hope that the participants would benefit from the training by applying what they had learnt to make a difference in their respective schedules in the sector.

She tasked the participants to apply what they would learn at the training to curb the trafficking of illicit drugs in and around the West African sub-region.