Under law enforcement, the Commission enforces its laws and powers of entry, search, arrest and seizures enshrined in the Act 1019 (2020), which establishes the Narcotics Control Commission. NACOC does this through its authorised officers at various points of operation throughout the country.
An authorised officer of the NACOC may search or cause to be searched, a person whom the officer has reason to believe on the body of that person, a narcotic drug or plant or any property liable to seizure or forfeiture, or any article necessary for the purpose of an investigation under this Act.
The Commission also takes measures to eliminate the import and export of narcotic drugs and plants as well as precursors by land, air and water bodies. To prevent the unlawful use of precursor chemicals, the Commission grants permits to importers and users of precursor chemicals in the country as part of its control and monitoring system under the Law enforcement Operations. NACOC law enforcement operations points include the following;
- Airport Operations
Airports are regularly used as a transit hub for drug trafficking, multinational organized crime, and terrorism. Drug trafficking has a direct impact on the safety of a country. The Commission’s agents stationed at airports conduct a wide range of law enforcement activities and obligations to ensure that illegal narcotics do not enter or escape the country. NCC personnel conduct surveillance, patrols, baggage screening, passenger profiling, and passenger behaviour assessments at the boarding gates and terminal areas of the airports. These includes Kotoka International Airport (KIA), Kumasi Airport (KA), Takoradi Airport (TA), and KIA Cargo Village.
- Sea Port Operations
The NCC Enforcement units entrusted with protecting Ghana’s seaports from illegal narcotics arrival and exist include the Maritime Monitoring Unit (MMU), the Sea Cooperation Project (SEACOP), the Joint Port Control Unit (JPCU), and the Tema Port Unit (TPU).
- Border Control Operations
Operations at the Border Post consist of patrolling and casing, random checks on vehicles, profiling of travelers, release of precursor chemicals, examinations of imports, s and transit cargoes. The operations points includes Elubo Border Post and Volta Regional Borders.
- Courier Operations
To prevent the exploitation of the postal system for drug trafficking, NACOC partnered with the Ghana Post Company. Officers are thus stationed at a number of post offices across the country, scanning and searching suspicious packages for narcotics.
