The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has destroyed a large consignment of opioids intercepted at the Tema Port in December last year, following a court order authorising their disposal.

The destruction exercise was carried out after the High Court granted an application by the Authority to safely dispose of the seized drugs.

According to the FDA, the opioid-based medications contained dosages that far exceeded limits permitted under Ghanaian law and breached several regulatory provisions, including Paragraphs 1(1)(2) of L.I. 168 of 2018 and Sections 37 and 95(10) of the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891).

The Authority said the consignment comprised opioid pharmaceuticals mixed with other substances, a development that raised serious concerns about the use of Ghana’s ports for illicit drug trafficking.

Investigations into the shipment further revealed multiple documentation breaches, pointing to lapses in cargo monitoring systems and non-compliance with established regulatory procedures.

The FDA noted that the interception was the result of a joint operation involving the Authority, the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).