Security analyst Adib Saani is demanding accountability from Ghana's Narcotics Control Commission after Lebanese authorities seized nearly 47 kilogrammes of cocaine at Beirut's airport on Saturday, October 31, 2026, in a shipment that travelled from Accra.
The seizure at Rafic Hariri International Airport, described by Lebanese authorities as the largest drug bust in the airport's history, has put Ghana's border security under fresh scrutiny and raised uncomfortable questions about how a consignment of that size left Accra undetected, according to GhanaWeb.
What happened at Beirut airport
Lebanese General Directorate of Customs officers discovered the cocaine in 40 packages concealed with sophisticated packaging and insulation materials designed to evade airport scanning equipment. Electronic tracking devices were reportedly found inside the packages.
The suspect, a Syrian national identified only by his initials B.H., had entered Lebanon through the Masnaa border crossing several weeks earlier, then travelled to Accra and returned with the consignment. The National reported that Lebanese authorities arrested the passenger on arrival from Accra in what they called the largest seizure in the airport's history.
NACOC says it was a controlled delivery
NACOC has pushed back against suggestions of a security failure. In a statement issued on Sunday, November 1, the Commission said the arrest was the outcome of a coordinated controlled delivery operation involving Ghanaian and Lebanese drug law enforcement agencies.
The operation, it said, was designed to identify and apprehend individuals at both ends of the drug supply chain while gathering intelligence to dismantle the wider international criminal network. The Commission added that efforts were underway to identify and arrest suspected accomplices in Ghana.
Adib Saani calls NACOC's explanation damage control
Saani, who writes for the Jatikay Centre, is unconvinced. In a Facebook post titled 'Beirut Cocaine Seizure: NACOC's Damage Control Raises More Questions Than Answers', he described the Commission's account as unsatisfactory and warned it could amount to damage control.