Two Ghanaians were accused by the Ghanaian authorities of allegedly aiding a Bolivian drug ring to smuggle approximately 5,800 kg of cocaine from Bolivia to Burkina Faso. The two accused are a businessman with connections in Latin America and an ex-officer of the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA). According to the prosecution, the two undertook activities with the purpose of promoting the establishment of a cocaine trafficking route from Santa Cruz in Bolivia, that would use Ghana as transit hub for smuggling cocaine to Europe and other African countries. The two men were arrested after the Bolivian authorities gave a tip-off to the Ghanaian police, following the arrest of the syndicate leader in Bolivia, a few weeks earlier.
The two men were initially convicted but then released on bail, pending a trial at Accra Circuit Court. The trial, which was supposed to start approximately one month after the arrest, could not take place, due to the absence of the Public Prosecutor.
This case is meaningful to the CRP, as it highlights the feasibility of the establishment of connections between Latin American and West African countries, which facilitate and increase the traffic of drugs to Africa and Europe. Nevertheless, it is also important to underline the relevance of the cooperation and coordination between law enforcement agencies of different nations in the fight against narcotrafficking that, in this case, led to the arrests of both the drug ring leader in Bolivia and the two smugglers in Ghana.
