The Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) has arrested three foreign nationals in Ghana in connection with a 46.7-kilogramme cocaine consignment seized at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon.
The suspects, comprising Syrian, Tunisian and Lebanese nationals, were arrested in separate intelligence-led operations on Tuesday, November 3, following information shared by Lebanese law enforcement authorities
According to sources, two of the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested in Accra, while the third was also arrested in a separate operation.
The arrests form part of ongoing investigations by Ghanaian and Lebanese security agencies to identify individuals suspected of facilitating the movement of the cocaine shipment and establish their connections to a wider international drug trafficking network.
Lebanese Customs authorities said a search of the passenger’s luggage uncovered 40 packages containing 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine. The drugs had been concealed using sophisticated packaging and insulation materials intended to evade detection by scanning equipment.
Electronic tracking devices were also reportedly found among the packages. Lebanese authorities described the seizure as the largest drug bust in the history of the airport.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the suspect had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing from Syria several weeks earlier before travelling to Accra and subsequently returning to Beirut with the consignment.
NACOC has said the operation leading to the arrest in Beirut was a coordinated controlled-delivery exercise undertaken in collaboration with Lebanese drug enforcement authorities.
The exercise was intended to identify and apprehend individuals at both ends of the drug supply chain while gathering intelligence to help dismantle the wider transnational criminal network.
