Guardia Civil Catches 2.6 Tonnes of Cocaine in Coconut Crates
The West African nation of Ghana is gaining more notoriety as a cocaine transit hub after Spanish authorities seized 2.6 tonnes of the drug hidden in two shipping containers that came from the country.
In recent months, Ghana has drawn growing attention as a transshipment point for illegal drugs, particularly cocaine moving from South America to the lucrative European market.
In the latest case, Spain's Tax Agency and Civil Guard announced on November 11 that they had seized 2,600 kilograms of cocaine at the port of Valencia. The drugs were hidden among goods carried in two containers shipped from Ghana.
According to the authorities, the containers were loaded at the port of Tema on August 2 and arrived in Valencia aboard a container ship on August 22. The authorities did not name the ship.
As part of their routine monitoring of international trade, customs officials selected the two containers for inspection after a risk assessment flagged them. Inside, officers found false bottoms in the wooden crates holding the declared cargo of coconuts. Beneath the false bottoms was a full layer of cocaine packages.
After seizing the drugs, investigators let the containers leave the port under surveillance. They followed the cargo to a warehouse in Viator, near Almería, where they arrested the importer and the person responsible for receiving the goods.
The seizure is the latest in a string of busts that put a spotlight on Ghana's two main ports, Tema and Takoradi, which together handle 85 percent of the country's international trade. On September 10, French authorities seized 3.9 tonnes of cocaine with an estimated street value of $261 million in a container of plastic waste that had arrived at the northern port of Dunkirk from Ghana. The drugs were hidden in 167 packages.
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In April, Australian authorities intercepted about 320 kilograms of methamphetamine hidden in containers of charcoal shipped from Ghana. The seizure at Port Botany was one of the country's largest-ever methamphetamine busts, with an estimated street value of US$208 million. Other recent cocaine seizures linked to Ghana include 4.5 tonnes in Amsterdam, 3.9 tonnes in Antwerp and 46.7 kilograms in Beirut.
Officials in Ghana have noticed the trend. On November 4, the opposition New Patriotic Party called for the Narcotics Control Commission, the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority, Ghana Airports Company and National Security to allow independent investigations of their anti-trafficking controls.
