ANTI-NARCOTICS TRAINING PROGRAMME ENDS (Page 3)

12/04/08
Story: Mary Mensah
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Patrick Kwarteng Acheampong, has called for a multi-agency approach in the fight against drug trafficking and other organised crimes in the country.
He said no single agency could combat the drug menace and there was, therefore, the need for greater collaboration among all the security agencies in the country in order to have a common front to combat the menace.
The IGP was speaking in Accra yesterday at the closing of a five-day anti-narcotics training programme organised by the French government for the security agencies
He said in view of that, the police had offered their facilities for the training programme to enable security personnel drawn from the Immigration Service, the Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), the Ghana Armed Forces, the Police Service, the Narcotics Control Board, the Ghana Civil Aviation Authority and the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority to take part in the programme.
He said in 2002, the French government and the Ghana Police Service signed a co-operation agreement which led to the training of policemen internally and internationally and the provision of equipment to enhance the performance of the service.
The IGP noted that all the entry and exit points in the country were used for the trafficking of drugs and that it was important that the security agencies were trained to enable them to be abreast of the techniques in the drug trade.
He urged the participants to share whatever knowledge they had acquired with their peers and thanked the French Government for the assistance.
Mr Acheampong added that since the French Embassy was prepared to assist the Police Service with further training, the service would also make the French Language Laboratory at the National Police Training Academy available to the other security agencies to enable them to learn French and appreciate the culture of the French people.
The IGP said understanding the French language would greatly assist the security agencies in the sub-region to quickly collaborate to share information and ideas in case of any emergency.
The Charge d’Affaires of the French Embassy, Madam Evelyne Decorps, said it was now a well-established fact that West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea had become major entry, transit and storage points for drugs.
She said that trend was intensifying, since it had become more difficult for structured organisations to ship narcotics through the Caribbean.
Madam Decorps stated that plans of action were being drawn up to boost regional co-operation and in particular exchange intelligence because the battle could not be won by a single country.
She said the well-established Franco-Ghanaian co-operation had taken a new impulse with the posting of a French Police Liaison Officer, Didier Moreno, whose main duty was to counter narcotics trafficking towards Europe through extended operation and co-operation with Ghana.
Madame Decorps indicated that the training programme was part of the co-operation and commended the two resource persons from France, Mr Rignault and Robert Mourachko, and the participants for the work accomplished.
She presented 1,300 drug test kits to be shared among the security agencies fighting drug trafficking at the ports and airports and on the roads and mentioned that the French government had presented 1,400 kits in 2006.
The Course Leader, Supt Ohene Bosompem, said the course had been very beneficial and given participants an insight into the drug menace and promised that they would put the knowledge acquired into good use and fight the barons on all fronts.