The Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) is a
Ghana
Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...
ian agency under the
Ministry of Interior
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
.
It is the agency concerned with the formulation and enforcement of
narcotics laws in the country. The board's work is aimed at preventing the use, import, and export of narcotics.
Functions
The agency has three main functions, supervised by the Interior Ministry.
[ The functions consist of the following:
#Enforcement and control of narcotic control laws in the country
#Education and prevention of the use of narcotics
#Treatment, rehabilitation and social re-integration of narcotic addicts.
The board regularly has inspectorates at various entry points of the country, particularly airports and seaports. Regular sweeps are done on marine vessels and on passengers at airports as security checks. During these inspections, if any suspected narcotic product(s) is found, the board confiscates them and runs tests to ascertain the kind of substance it is. The culprits are then arraigned before law courts for their cases to be tried. The narcotic product confiscated is then burned to prevent redistribution of the product. One such burning was done in June 2010 when the board destroyed 167 kilograms of seized cocaine at the ]Teshie
Teshie is a coastal town in the Ledzokuku Municipal District, a district in the Greater Accra Region of southeastern Ghana. Teshie is the ninth most populous settlement in Ghana, with a population of 171,875 people.
Politics
Teshie is in the ...
Shooting Range in Accra.
In 2009, NACOB announced a one-year campaign "to raise public awareness of the harmful effects of illicit drugs on the economic, social, political and cultural aspects of the country and its security."
Collaborations with other agencies
NACOB forms partnerships with other agencies both in and outside of Ghana. One such collaboration led to the formation of the Operation West Bridge project in 2007, which was introduced at Ghana's Kotoka International Airport
Kotoka International Airport is an international airport in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The airport is operated by Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL), which has its offices on the airport property. It is the sole international airport in ...
by the UK government. This collaboration has led to the interception of illicit drugs worth 214 million British pounds
Sterling (abbreviation: stg; Other spelling styles, such as STG and Stg, are also seen. ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound ( sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and t ...
since its inception.
Successes
NACOB in combating narcotic drugs trafficking organizes training programmes for its staff and gathers intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in many ways: the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. More generally, it can be des ...
on the illicit drug trade.[ One of the board's successes came in 2004 when the Customs Office of the United Kingdom commended the board for seizing 42 ]kilograms
The kilogram (also kilogramme) is the unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI), having the unit symbol kg. It is a widely used measure in science, engineering and commerce worldwide, and is often simply called a kilo colloquially ...
of cocaine
Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...
concealed in sacks of rice imported from Guyana at Tema
Tema is a city on the Bight of Benin and Atlantic coast of Ghana. It is located east of the capital city; Accra, in the region of Greater Accra, and is the capital of the Tema Metropolitan District. As of 2013, Tema is the eleventh most populo ...
Port in two 20-foot containers in September 2003.
Challenges
Problems that faces the board include the lack of adequate resources as well as remuneration for law enforcement personnel.
See also
* Ministry of Interior (Ghana)
The Ministry of the Interior is a ministry of the government of Ghana.
About the Ministry
The Ministry is headed by the Minister of Interior, who is appointed by the President of Ghana and is approved by the Ghana Parliament after a vetting proc ...
References
{{authority control
Law enforcement in Ghana
Ministries and Agencies of State of Ghana