The Narcotics Control Board, (NACOB) has served notice it will stop engaging the media in order to improve its effectiveness.
The Executive Secretary of NACOB, Yaw Akrasi Sarpong told Citi News, media reports about its activities, in most cases only serves to alert suspected drug barons to escape a situation he bemoaned.
According to him, the board will be more effective in fighting the course for which it is mandated if it stays away from media hype hence the decision not to actively engage the media.
He explained that some media personnel in a bid to “show that they have a big story” announce the activities and plans of NACOB which helps drug dealers “to go underground” and escape arrest.
Mr. Sarpong recalled that in 2013, a Guyanese drug baron was able to escape arrest when NACOB announced a cocaine bust valued at $60 million dollars at the Takoradi port.
“The Guyanese who brought the drugs here was in Ghana so as soon as the news blew up and when we were gunning him, he had already crossed the border to Togo,” he narrated.
He admitted that it is good to keep the public informed about the activities of NACOB because “a lot of the drugs that are busted have connections to Nigeria and some other countries but we need to take our time.”
By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
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