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Report by Edward FRIMPONG
A nine-member team from the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) in collaboration with 20 Operations officers of the Ghana Prisons Service (GPS) have embarked on a security search at the Nsawam Medium Security Prison (NMSP), at Nsawam, in the Eastern region.
The aim of the exercise which took place on Sunday, 14th April, 2024 was to search and retrieve Narcotic drugs from the facility.
The NACOC officers went to the prison facility together with five security dogs.
The search was conducted on inmates, cells, workshops, classrooms, church, mosque, hospital and every area that inmates could have access to.
It was also extended to the outer perimeter wall of the prison facility in search of any hidden narcotic drug.
The sniffer dogs were released to the cells and every area of the facility and no single narcotic drug was detected.
At the end of the search by the officers of these two institutions, no narcotic drug was retrieved in and around the facility.
The Second-in-Command of the NMSP, ADP. Andrews Osei expressed his appreciation to the NACOC officers for the exercise. He assured the team that officers of the facility would continue their routine searches to ensure that narcotic drugs and other contrabands do not get access to the Prison environment.
According to the head of the K9 unit of NACOC, who was also the leader of team, NCO Bernard Tetteh, narcotic drug use has become a public health issue in the public space for some time now, with the youth in the majority.
He said most of its users exhibit signs such as anxiety, paranoia, nervousness, mental instability, increased irritability, anger, among others, which have serious negative effect on their mental health.
“The aim of this very exercise was to search and retrieve Narcotic drugs in the Prisons facility amidst public opinion that prisons are breeding grounds for illegal drugs such as narcotics”, he emphasized.
He commended the authorities of NMSP for their effective collaboration in opening their doors for the exercise. He also applauded management of the Prisons Service for ensuring a Narcotic free facility contrary to the popular opinion that ‘there is influx of narcotic drugs in the Prisons facilities’.
The commission hopes to extend this exercise to all Prison facilities across the country.
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