A suspected drug kingpin of Nigerian origin, Uchechukwu Chima, has been arrested in Ghana. The 56-year-old was reportedly nabbed by the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) at his hideout in Oyarifa, a suburb of Accra.
According to reports, the operation occurred on Tuesday, 18 March 2025. During the raid, officials uncovered 192kg of cocaine and 0.42kg of heroin. The drugs have an estimated street value of $2.1 million (N3.2 billion).
NACOC’s Acting Director of Public Affairs and International Relations, Francis Amoah, confirmed the arrest. He stated that field tests confirmed the seized substances as cocaine and heroin.
The suspect, Uchechukwu Chima, who has been a target for NACOC for some time now, is noted to be the brain behind some seizures and arrests made by NACOC in the past, the statement read.
Authorities believe the operation prevented a large quantity of drugs from reaching the streets. Notably, cocaine and heroin are highly addictive substances that can cause severe physical and mental health issues, including heart failure, respiratory distress, and long-term cognitive impairment. Their widespread availability often leads to increased cases of overdose, infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS from needle sharing, and drug-related violence. The social and economic burden on healthcare systems also rises as more resources are needed to treat addiction and its complications.
By this seizure and arrest, NACOC has taken a substantial quantity of drugs off the streets, protecting people who would have otherwise perished from abusing these hard drugs, the agency stated.
NACOC reaffirmed its commitment to tackling drug trafficking. It vowed to make Ghana an unprofitable route for traffickers. West Africa has become a key transit point for drug cartels smuggling cocaine and heroin across different regions. Despite enforcement efforts in some countries, traffickers have continued to exploit weak border controls and corruption.
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