The Director-General of the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), Major General Maxwell Obuba Mantey, has warned that global drug trafficking networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, exploiting technology and cyberspace to expand their illicit operations across borders.

Delivering the opening remarks at the Africa–South Asia Inter-Regional Workshop on “Strengthening Cooperation Against New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and Synthetic Opioid Trafficking”, currently underway at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra, the Director-General noted that criminal organisations are taking advantage of vulnerabilities within countries to strengthen their operations.

“Ghana is experiencing a trend where these criminal networks are using cyberspace to trade in narcotics,” he stated, stressing the urgent need for stronger regional and international cooperation to counter the evolving threat.

Major General Mantey called on participating countries to deepen collaboration through the timely exchange of intelligence, best practices and coordinated enforcement efforts to dismantle transnational drug trafficking networks operating within Africa and South Asia.

The Ghana Law Enforcement advisor for the US Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, Mr. Chip Duncan, in his remarks, also said: “The world is facing a drug threat that is moving faster than ever before,” adding that “traditionally, we dealt with plant-based drugs that followed predictable patterns. Today, we face a synthetic revolution”.

“Over 1,200 New psychoactive substances (NPS) have been identified globally. These are chemicals designed to mimic illegal drugs while evading current laws”. Mr. Duncan noted

He added that West Africa is already the world’s largest market for diverted tramadol, with over 180 tons seized every year. More alarming is the recent detection of nitazens, a synthetic opioid that can be 40 times stronger than heroin.

These substances, according to him, “don’t just fuel crime, they kill your citizens and devastate your communities “.

He further stressed that criminal networks are highly organized and tech-savvy, as they use maritime and air corridors to link South-Asia, particularly India and Sri Lanka, to East and West Africa, which creates a global trafficking chain that exploits weak points, limited lab capacities, outdated laws and porous borders.

The four-day workshop brings together experts and law enforcement agencies from across the two regions to strengthen partnerships, enhance real-time intelligence sharing and exchange experiences in addressing the growing threat posed by New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) and synthetic opioids.

The workshop is sponsored by the US Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) and is being facilitated in collaboration with the International Narcotics Control Board (NCB), with the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), and the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) Ghana.