The Board Chairman of the Narcotics Control Board (NACOB), Naval Captain (retd) Baffour Asaase Gyimah has rubbished claims by the General Secretary of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie over plans to implicate top gurus in the NPP in the illicit drug trade. According to him, NACOB has no intention to target any political party in the country ahead of the 2012 elections. Mr Owusu Afriyie, popularly called Sir John, issued a stern warning to members of the NPP who intend to travel outside the country to be extra cautious with their luggage at the airport since there has been a ploy to plant illicit substances in their luggage after they have been checked by customs officials. His call came after some people were busted for allegedly engaging in the narcotics trade out of whom 11 were operatives from the Narcotics Control Board, National Security and Bureau of National Investigations operatives. The NPP scribe noted that the scheme is to serve as an ultimate proof to justify speculations widely made by the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the run up to the 2008 elections that the NPP is indeed narcotics party ahead of the 2012 general elections. Sir John who vouched for the authenticity of his source admonished members of the NPP to be very vigilant and prove their critics wrong. But on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen programme Wednesday, Naval Captain (retd) Asaase Gyimah challenged Sir John to provide circumstantial evidence to back his spurious allegations. He said such 'bogus' claim by a leader of the largest opposition affects the neutrality and credibility of the Narcotics Control Board and security agencies in charge of security at the airports. The NACOB Board chairman noted that the distractions from the NPP would not deter them from instituting measures to combat the drug trade. Naval Captain (retd) Asaase Gyimah revealed plans by NACOB to collaborate with political parties, civil society groups and opinion leaders to dialogue to find effective and lasting solutions to halt the illicit trade. He stated that NACOB in collaboration with their foreign counterparts remain committed in ensuring that Ghana is clean of the illicit drug trade. Naval Captain (retd) Asaase Gyimah advised that the fight against narcotics should be devoid of politics.