Court says that $350 million worth of cocaine that was stopped in Ghana should be destroyed

The National Intelligence Bureau (NIB) stopped the tipper truck at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast and found the 3319.66 kilograms of cocaine that had been hidden in sacks, bags, and piles of sand to avoid detection while being taken to Accra.

The NIB caught the cocaine in March 2025. It was worth about $350 million on the street. They were inside a tipper truck full of sand.  The High Court in Accra is currently holding a trial about the cocaine.

The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) did a presumptive test on Wednesday, June 4, and found that it was cocaine. The exercise came after the High Court gave the order for inspection, testing, and destruction. Three people are currently on trial for allegedly bringing drugs into the country without permission and running an illegal drug business. 

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 Now that the confirmation is over, the NIB can go ahead and destroy the exhibits as the court ordered. The interception of the substance is the biggest cocaine bust ever in Ghana. The GSA staff tested it by taking samples at random from three of the 2,970 slabs of substance. 

 On Wednesday, June 4, the cobalt thiocyanate test took place in front of the trial judge, Justice Ruby Aryeetey, both state and defense attorneys, the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB), and the Narcotic Control Commission (NCC). After the test, the state attorney tried to give the court the lab results for a number of samples taken at the GSA through one of the lab staff. However, the defense attorney for the accused, Victor Adawudu, objected to this.

 He said that it was too early for the state to give that document because both sides had not finished the Case Management Conference (CMC). The trial judge agreed with this point of view. The case has been put off until June 24, 2025, when samples will be taken in front of the parties for trial. On June 20, 2024, the last exhibit will be destroyed.

 In March of this year, the NIB stopped an incredible 3,319.66 kilograms (3.3 tonnes) of what they thought was cocaine, which was worth about $350 million on the street.

 The huge amount of drugs was hidden in sacks and bags that were cleverly hidden in piles of sand in a tipper truck so that no one would find them. But the watchful NIB agents were able to find the illegal cargo, which was a big step forward in the country's fight against drugs.

 The police caught the tipper truck at Pedu Junction in Cape Coast, which is in the Central Region, on its way to Accra. The seizure of more than 3,300 kg of cocaine is a major accomplishment, making it one of the biggest cocaine seizures in the country's history.

 Police arrested the tipper truck driver, 39-year-old Isaac Quaicoo, and his friend, 25-year-old Kenneth Cobbinah, who was a college student at the time. Mawuku Kudufia is also in the dock with them. The state thinks that Kelian Julien Mensah, Jefflean Kwadjo Ntow, and Charles Hagan are the main suspects, but they are still on the run.