Accra, July 3, GNA - The Ministry of the Interior on Monday announced the setting up of a five-member committee to investigate two narcotic drug cases.

The Committee, which has one month to complete its work, would investigate the suspected loss of parcels of narcotic drugs from a seized ship and allegations levelled against some police officers with respect to the seizure of narcotic drugs at East Legon in Accra. A statement signed by Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, Minister of the Interior, named members as Mrs Georgina Woode, Supreme Court Judge, Mr Kwaku Duah, Deputy Director of Bureau of National Investigations, Ms Jemima Mograbi, a lawyer, Mr Ransford Tetteh, President of the Ghana Journalists Association and Mr Abraham Ossei-Aidooh, MP for Tema West. The statement said in the first case, the Narcotics Control Board (NCB), acting upon intelligence information that a ship on the high seas was suspected to be carrying narcotics drugs, intercepted the vessel on April 27, 2006 with the assistance of the Ghana Navy.

The statement said officials of the NCB conducted a search on the vessel and discovered a leather bag containing 30 slabs of a whitish substance suspected to be cocaine. This was seized and taken to the headquarters for safekeeping.

"Intelligence information is that originally, there were about 78 parcels in the vessel with each parcel containing 30 kilograms of cocaine.

"This suggests that 77 parcels of cocaine each weighing 30 kilograms were taken out of the vessel just before it was intercepted." The statement said the Committee would, among other things, find out the person or persons who brought the parcels on board the vessel and determine the actual numbers of narcotic drug parcels on the vessel immediately before it was intercepted.

It would determine whether some of the parcels on board the vessel were removed from it before it was intercepted, and, if so, to establish when and how this happened and recommend appropriate punishment. The Committee is also to determine the whereabouts of the parcels of narcotic drugs, if any, which were removed from the vessel and investigate any other issues relating to the loss of the narcotic drug and make recommendations on how to avoid them in future.

In the second case, the Committee would investigate various allegations levelled against some police officers with respect to the seizure of a quantity of narcotic drugs at East Legon in Accra and advise on appropriate actions against any person or persons found culpable.