President Mahama orders investigation into alleged KIA drug trafficking

President John Dramani Mahama has directed a full-scale investigation into allegations of suspected drug trafficking and money laundering at the Kotoka International Airport (KIA).

This follows claims made by the Ranking Member on the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, at a news conference held at the Parliament House last Tuesday regarding two suspicious flights that recently arrived in the country.

In a statement shared on his social media page, President Mahama assured the public that his government takes such allegations seriously.

He therefore instructed key investigative agencies—including the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC), the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, the National Investigations Bureau (NIB), and the National Security Coordinator—to collaborate fully with the MP in probing the matter.

“We will maintain zero tolerance for using Ghana as a transit or final destination for drugs or drug trafficking,” the President said.

He further noted that the NIB recently made a significant drug bust worth $350 million, reinforcing the government’s commitment to tackling illicit drug trade in the country.

Recall

Rev. Fordjour, who is also the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Assin South in the Central Region, at the news conference, called on the National Security to, as a matter of urgency, make public the content of cargo suspected to be cocaine and cash, transported into the country by two suspicious flights, namely AirMed flight N823AM and Cavok Air private jet, Antonov An-12B.

He alleged that the two flights landed on the tarmac of Kotoka International Airport on March 25, 2025, from Gran Canaria, an island of Spain and departed to the same Gran Canaria days after their arrival.

Reliable intelligence

“Reliable intelligence intercepted by the Minority Caucus indicates that on March 20, 2025, AirMed flight N823AM, which is an air ambulance designed specifically to carry patients, landed at Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana, and remained in the country for five days before departing at 0100 hours (1 am) on March 25, 2025, back to Gran Canaria,” he said.

“Our intelligence further posits that no patient was transported by the said AirMed flight neither to nor from Accra.

There is no evidence of medical referral or patient accompanying or on board the flight on either leg of the flight,” he stated.

“We are reliably informed that contrary to the expectation that the AirMed flight would carry patients, the purpose for which it was designed and operates, it rather on this occasion carried cargo suspected to be cocaine and cash in US dollars,” he claimed.

“It is the expectation of the Minority Caucus that transparency in such critical matters of airspace security is upheld in order to assure our citizens of the continued security of our airspace,” Rev. Fordjour added.

Rev. Fordjour also called on the government to update the public on the operations that led to the discovery of twelve 20-foot containers filled with gold bars and an unspecified amount of cash in various denominations at a warehouse in Sapeiman in the Ga South Municipality on February 9 this year.

The Minority urged full-scale investigation into the March 27, 2025, pirate attack on the Ghanaian-registered fishing vessel MENGXIN 1, which took place in Ghanaian waters to apprehend the pirates.

“We call on the government to resource the Ghana Navy with the required complement of Offshore Patrol Vessels to fully equip the Navy to more comprehensively and effectively safeguard our waters,” Rev. Fordjour said.