Agalga: Govt shifts drug fight from couriers to criminal networks and profits

Majority Leader and Builsa North MP James Agalga says the government has changed its approach to combating drug trafficking, shifting its focus from arresting couriers and seizing narcotics to dismantling the criminal networks and financial systems behind the trade.

He explained that the strategy targets the profits, assets and illicit financial flows that sustain organised drug trafficking, rather than making couriers the main focus of enforcement.

Speaking to the media on Thursday, September 24, Mr Agalga said the government’s objective was to weaken the financial structures that allow drug trafficking networks to operate.

“This government’s stance is that drug control is not about the courier; it’s about the criminal network and its profits,” he said.

He pointed to what he described as the results of operations by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) between July 2025 and August 2026.

During that period, he said, the Commission restrained 73 assets suspected of being connected to illicit activities and seized more than 19 kilogrammes of gold in operations involving suspected drug-money laundering.

Mr Agalga added that NACOC had also restrained cash and other assets valued at more than US$6.9 million and GH¢440,000.

He said the figures reflected a deliberate move away from measuring success mainly by the volume of drugs seized towards targeting the financial resources that enable organised trafficking to continue.

“This is the shift from counting seizures to disrupting the money supply that drives organised trafficking,” he added.

Mr Agalga maintained that disrupting the financial networks behind the narcotics trade was essential to achieving a more sustained impact against organised drug trafficking.

His comments come as authorities intensify efforts to tackle drug trafficking and related financial crimes, with the government signalling that enforcement will increasingly focus on those who finance, coordinate and profit from the trade.