The Narcotics Control Commission has arrested three foreign nationals in Ghana as investigations widen into the Beirut cocaine seizure involving 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine transported from Accra.
The suspects, a Syrian, a Tunisian and a Lebanese national, were picked up in separate intelligence led operations on Tuesday, November 3.
Two of the suspects, a man and a woman, were arrested in Accra, while the third was apprehended in a separate operation later in the day.
Arrests follow intelligence from Lebanon
The arrests followed information shared with NACOC by Lebanese law enforcement authorities investigating the movement of the cocaine consignment.
Investigators are now working to establish the roles allegedly played by the three suspects and whether they are connected to a wider international trafficking network.
The case began on Saturday, October 31, when Lebanese authorities arrested a Syrian national at Beirut's Rafic Hariri International Airport after he arrived from Accra aboard a Middle East Airlines flight.
A search of two pieces of luggage uncovered 40 packages containing 46.7 kilogrammes of cocaine.
Lebanese Customs said the drugs had been concealed using sophisticated packaging and insulation materials designed to evade airport scanning equipment. Electronic tracking devices were also found among the packages.
Authorities described it as the largest drug seizure recorded at the airport.
NACOC says operation was coordinated
NACOC has said the arrest in Beirut followed a controlled delivery operation carried out with Lebanese drug enforcement agencies.
“This successful apprehension resulted from a coordinated controlled delivery exercise,” the Commission said in an earlier statement.
The exercise was designed to identify suspects at both ends of the supply chain while gathering intelligence on the network behind the shipment.
Preliminary investigations in Lebanon indicate that the courier had entered the country from Syria several weeks earlier before travelling to Accra and returning to Beirut with the cocaine.
Investigations in both Ghana and Lebanon are continuing as authorities search for other suspected members of the network.
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