Majority Leader James Agalga has backed the Narcotics Control Commission’s (NACOC) account of its role in the arrest of a suspected drug trafficker in Lebanon, arguing that the Lebanese authorities would have publicly refuted the claims if they were inaccurate.
He maintained that the absence of any official rebuttal from Lebanon lends support to NACOC’s position that the arrest resulted from a coordinated operation involving security agencies from both countries.
Mr Agalga made the remarks during a media briefing ahead of Parliament’s sitting on Tuesday, November 3, as questions continued to emerge over the circumstances surrounding the arrest.
NACOC had earlier disclosed that the arrest of a Syrian national at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 31, was the outcome of a controlled delivery operation conducted in collaboration with Lebanese drug enforcement authorities.
The suspect was apprehended upon arrival from Accra with about 40 kilogrammes of suspected cocaine hidden in two pieces of luggage.
Responding to concerns about NACOC’s version of events, Mr Agalga argued that it was unrealistic to expect security agencies to make their intelligence-sharing arrangements public, given the sensitive nature of such operations.
“NACOC came out with a statement to the effect that they engaged in collaboration with other security agencies abroad, and that ensured that the controlled delivery was done. The people are saying that the Lebanese authorities ought to have admitted per their statements, including that they actually collaborated with our security agencies. But then they applied the same logic.
“If what our law enforcement agency is saying is leading or false, why hasn’t the Lebanese authorities repudiated the claim of NACOP? It’s as simple as that,” he said.
He questioned why Lebanese authorities had not publicly clarified the situation if NACOC’s account of the operation was inaccurate, particularly after the Commission’s statement became public.
Mr Agalga also dismissed demands for NACOC to disclose evidence of its alleged cooperation with Lebanese security agencies, arguing that such disclosure could compromise sensitive intelligence sources and expose operational details.
“You are asking NACOC to come and prove that they actually collaborated with their counterparts in Lebanon. In my security studies, security agencies don’t operate in that manner. You want them to come and reveal their intelligence sources to you? Is that what we are saying? Let’s not reduce this debate to those letters. Let’s get serious,” he said.
He insisted that NACOC would not have announced its collaboration with foreign security agencies if the claim had no factual basis.
“NACOP would not stick their necks out and make such a statement if there was no coordination and collaboration,” he added.
Mr Agalga also noted that controlled delivery is a recognised law enforcement strategy used to combat cross-border organised crime networks.
“In any case, controlled delivery is a technique law enforcement agencies apply,” he said.
The development comes amid growing scrutiny over the decision to allow the suspected drug shipment to leave Ghana for Lebanon before the suspect was arrested at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.
NACOC has defended the operation, explaining that it was intended to track and apprehend individuals at various stages of the drug trafficking chain while gathering intelligence to help dismantle the wider network.
The Commission further disclosed that investigations are continuing to identify and apprehend other suspected accomplices in Ghana.
