NCB CONFISCATES $MILLIONS ILLICIT DRUGS

LATEST INFORMATION gathered from the Narcotics Control Board indicates that
about 2,618 kilograms of narcotic drugs worth millions of dollars in street
value have been confiscated in the last of six months.

A total of 520 people were arrested for drug trafficking over the same
period, Mr. Kwame Addo, information officer of the board, told The
Chronicle in Accra yesterday.

Of the illicit drugs confiscated 10.2 kg were cocaine, 7.6kg were heroin
and 2,601kg were cannabis (wee).

Mr. Addo said the board has increased its activities to clamp down on drug
traffickers and barons especially at Kotoka International Airport. He said
the board would not relent its effort to establish the most effective ways
of controlling this menace.

He advised the public to exercise patience whenever a case is under
investigations since narcotic investigations are more complicated than
criminal investigations.

Mr. Addo said the board does not have its own drug treatment and
rehabilitation centers, which undermines its objective of focusing on drug
addicts and traffickers and rehabilitating them so that they could be
reintegrated into the society.

Currently the board uses public rehabilitation centers, but plans are afoot
to refurbish some of the abandoned buildings of the department of social
welfare into rehabilitation centers by the end of next year.

He called on the public to support the activities of the board by providing
information that could lead to the arrest of the drug traffickers from
their hide outs, adding that identities of informants would be strictly
protected.

The board also needs public sponsorship for its educational programmes so
that it could print more handouts and documentaries for students and the
public on the negative effects of drugs on the social and economic
development of the country.