THE NARCOTICS Control Commission (NACOC) has arrested three foreign nationals in Ghana in connection with the 46.7 kilogramme cocaine consignment seized at the Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon.
According to sources, the suspects, a Syrian, a Tunisian and a Lebanese national, were picked up in separate intelligence-led operations on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, following information shared by Lebanese law enforcement authorities.
Two of the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested earlier in the day in Accra, while the third man was apprehended at about 5 p.m. in a separate operation.
They are currently in custody and assisting with investigations into their alleged involvement in an international drug trafficking syndicate.
Cocaine Seizure
On Saturday, October 31, 2026, a Syrian national was arrested at Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport after arriving from Accra aboard Middle East Airlines flight MEA 576.
Lebanese Customs authorities said a search of the passenger’s luggage uncovered 40 packages containing a total of 46.7kg of cocaine.
Preliminary investigations in Lebanon indicate that the courier had entered Lebanon from Syria through the Masnaa border crossing several weeks earlier, before travelling to Accra and subsequently returning to Beirut with the consignment.
This is the fourth major arrest of persons suspected to be linked to drug trafficking syndicates, having arrived from Ghana to their various destinations.
The arrests have resulted in calls on government to take drastic measures to deal with the incidents, which have the potential to put passengers arriving from Ghana on the radar of other countries.
On September 20, 2026, a 52-year-old man was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport in South Africa on suspicion of drug trafficking after arriving from Accra.
The South African national, who had arrived from Ghana, was arrested by the country’s law enforcement agents in an intelligence-led operation that resulted in the retrieval of substances suspected to be cocaine, with a local street value of R2 million, an equivalent of GH¢1,416,545.18.
In June this year, a British actress and an Australian couple were arrested and put before court for allegedly attempting to smuggle 320kg of methamphetamine into Australia from Ghana, with an estimated value of A$296 million ($208 million).
In July, French customs officers at the port of Dunkirk seized nearly 3.9 tonnes of cocaine, valued at more than US$260 million, concealed in a container of plastic waste that had departed Ghana.
All these incidents put together paint a negative picture of the country’s border and customs, as many are beginning to draw a link to insider complicity.