He was reacting to comments by some political pundits that re-opening investigations into the missing77 parcels alleged to be on board the MV Benjamin vessel will be an exercise in futility.
It will be recalled that President Mills, during the 2011 State of the Nation Address to Parliament, strongly indicated that certain key drug cases in the past, including the 77 parcels of suspected substances believed to be cocaine on board the MV Benjamin vessel, will be reviewed and measures taken by the security agencies to clamp down heavily on the drug trade. President Mills further added that there was the need to get to the root of the matter since the parcels of cocaine were not found or the accomplices jailed.
“I have decided that we must reopen investigations into the disappearance of cocaine from the police Board as well as the 77 parcels of cocaine which entered Ghana aboard the MV Benjamin and mysteriously got missing. I am aware that some investigations were conducted, however the twist is that, the cocaine were never found and the culprits were not identified. We will not relent in our fight against the narcotic trade, and I believe that majority of Ghanaians are happy that these days they don’t wake up to hear stories of cocaine here, cocaine there, cocaine everywhere…We will continue to make Ghana an unattractive destination for the narcotic trade. We will seek help of foreign operatives to help us trash out the drug barons and their couriers,” he said.
Speaking to the issue, Mr. Ablakwa told Shamima Muslim on Citi Eye Witness News that it was important to go back to the issue and carefully analyze what went wrong.
“The President emphasis was on the fact that in both cases we have not found the cocaine, where the cocaine went to and we have not found the culprits. Up till now, those handling the issue have not told us how the 77parcels of cocaine got in the country. Who was behind it, how the National Security at the time having received Intelligence from their International collaborators, ignored the intelligence and allowed the MV Benjamin to be re-painted for the actual people who were in the ship to escape and for all the 77 parcels except one to be transferred out of that ship?” he added.
To him, this represents one of the most embarrassing security failures in the country’s fight against the drug trade; the fact that the case was closed and the fact that the 77 parcels of cocaine could go missing.
“What the president is saying is that we need to re-open these investigations so that people who collaborate with drug barons will not go unpunished. Considering his confidence to re-open those cases I am certain that he knows something you and I do not know. Beyond star witnesses and prosecution, this re-opening will help us to have strong institutions so that such a case will not occur again,” Okudzeto Ablakwa said.
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Revisiting 77 Missing Cocaine Saga: Prez Mills Might Know Something Says Okudzeto